Turning Point

No parent is prepared for that sentence. Nichole wasn't either.

Before the hospital took Kyle for organ donation, she did one last thing.

"The last thing I did before they took him was I laid my head on his chest and listened to his heartbeat," she said.

The hospital gave her a heartbeat bear — a soft animal with a small recorder inside. The nurse pressed it to Kyle's chest and used a Doppler to record his heartbeat on the recorder.

She still has it. She still holds it.

"It's just something I can hold onto. I can squeeze that bear and listen to his heartbeat."

The Discovery

Two years later, she heard something that stopped her.

The only local hospital that provided heartbeat bears had run out of them.

Families were going home empty-handed.

Nichole knew exactly what that meant. She had held the alternative — a recording, a bear, a heartbeat — and she knew what it felt like to have it. She couldn't let other families leave without one.

"I kind of went on my own and started asking privately — friends and family — hey, this is what I want to do. They are out of these animals, and I want to raise some money to buy some and donate to the hospital so that no other families go home without one."