KUNKLETOWN -- A man from Monroe County who was in desperate need of a heart transplant just a few months ago is now sharing his amazing story of survival.
About eight months ago, Tom Ross, 36, of Kunkletown, couldn't play catch with his dog, Callie.
Last June, he thought he was having lung problems and delivering restaurant equipment became impossible.
"One day I had a refrigerator I was moving. I was having difficulties and I actually dropped a refrigerator on myself," said Ross.
Ross's mom, a registered nurse, was more than concerned.
"I was kind of looking at it, going, something isn't right here, you need to see specialists because he kept going back to the doctor's, and I said, this isn't working," said Sandra Ross.
Doctors eventually diagnosed him and said Ross had a virus attacking his heart. His family put life on hold trying to get him on the transplant list.
"It was hard, because I thought we lost him three times before he got his heart. It was tough," said his father, Thomas Ross Sr.
In December, Ross got so sick he was admitted to the University of Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia. On December 9, the phone rang.
"They called us Tuesday morning and said he's on the list. He made it. He's on the list. And we thought, oh, thank God. Finally, we are where we needed to be all these months," said Sandra Ross.
But the news got even better.
"My nurse came in about 12 hours later and said, 'Tom, not only are you in the program, but we've got a heart waiting for you,'" said Ross.
He's still recovering from the surgery. It's just one of the record 30,000 heart transplants made possible this year nationwide through the Gift of Life program.
"It's as simple as just going to the DMV and checking off a box. I never really realized how much it actually means," said Ross.
Now, this family from Kunkletown wants others to know about the miracles organ donors make possible.
"For this to happen, at that time, was a godsend. I don't think we had a lot of time left," said Sandra Ross.