When Trevor Sullivan, 15, was rushed to the hospital with sudden heart failure in February of last year, he and his family had no idea what was happening. "We just chalked it up to 'We don’t know what's going on,'" Trevor's dad, Philip, tells ABC News. "In September 2014, he was on the football field and said he didn't feel good. We thought it was allergies."
Trevor was then diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, a severe heart muscle disease, before being added to the heart transplant waiting list and discharged from C.S. Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor. After ten months on the list, Trevor was finally able to undergo surgery. "I really like the video, actually," Trevor tells ABC of the clip above recently shared to Gift of Life Michigan's Facebook page by his dad. "I think it's really cool and I wish everyone in the world can see it because it really makes a difference."
In fact, the viral sensation stirred by the emotional video has now inspired the Sullivan family to become active volunteers with Gift of Life Michigan, a foundation dedicated to furthering the research and implementation of organ and tissue donations. "[The video] has gone crazy and since that time, Mr. Sullivan is interested in promoting organ tissue and [eye] cornea donations," Tim Makinen, Gift of Life's communications director, tells reporter Nicole Pelletiere. "It looks like he’s going to be one of our volunteers."
A GoFundMe page, which at time of publication has raised nearly $65,000 of its $250,000 goal, has been set up to help the Sullivan family with mounting medical expenses.
