(WSVN) - Chef Pepín is one of the most famous Latin chefs on TV. His daughter just underwent a lifesaving heart transplant. Now they are on a mission to save others. Heather Walker shares their story in tonight’s 7 Spotlight.
Chef Pepín: “Con Chef Pepín, hasta el fin!”
Univision’s Chef Pepín is known for making cooking easy and fun. Serving up dishes with a smile, he has captured the hearts of millions.
But few people know it was his daughter’s heart that concerned him.
Chef Pepín: “Nobody knows that she was not doing well. She always faked it.”
His daughter Ana was born with congenital heart disease.
Anamaria Hernandez, Chef Pepín’s daughter: “They realized that I had had a heart attack as I was being born.”
At 7 years old, she had open-heart surgery. At 18, a double bypass.
Anamaria Hernandez: “I was always in and out of the hospital, but at the same time, I was healthy enough to continue a regular life.”
Including a job as a TV producer here in Miami, where the station was looking to feature a female chef.
Chef Pepín: “She found me the job. (laughs) She said, ‘How do you know that?'”
The rest is history — but while his cooking career was taking off, his daughter’s heart was slowing down.
Dr. David Baran, Cleveland Clinic Florida: “Eventually came to the point where nothing else but a heart transplant was going to be able to allow her to survive.”
This past summer, doctors at Cleveland Clinic Florida told Ana her only hope was a new heart.
Anamaria Hernandez: “I knew that at any point, my heart was going to give up on me.”
Dr. David Baran: “She was not likely to survive the next few weeks to month.”
Just days after getting on the transplant list, a match was found.
Heather Walker: “What was that feeling when you got that phone call?”
Anamaria Hernandez: “I felt pain for whoever had lost their lives, and the family. That was my first concern, it was like, ‘There is a family that is suffering for me to live,’ and that was hard, and the second one, I was full of gratitude, because I had been waiting for three days, and that doesn’t normally happen.”
Dr. David Baran: “The biggest problem that we have with transplantation is not enough suitable donors.”
Nationwide, there are about 4,000 heart transplants a year, but the number of people who need one is much higher.
Dr. David Baran: “Every year, it really hurts me when we lose patients on the waiting list.”
Ana doesn’t know who donated her heart, but she wrote a letter to the family.
Anamaria Hernandez: “‘Please know that not a day goes by when I don’t think of you, your loved ones and the extraordinary act generosity that has given me the second chance.'”
She hopes to thank them in person one day.
Until then, Ana has started a GoFundMe to help donor families. She’s also spreading the word about becoming an organ donor.
Anamaria Hernandez: “A lot of times in the Hispanic community and other communities, we feel that organ donations, ‘Oh, no, that’s not good.’ My duty now is to inform people that this is something that saves a lot of lives.”
It saved her life, and she hopes her story will now save others.
Heather Walker, 7News.
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