Caroline Tart is home, with a brand new heart
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on August 10, 2015 1:46 PM
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Caroline Tart, right, and her mother, Sandra Barnes of Goldsboro, soon after Miss Tart was released from UNC Hospitals after spending nearly 90 days there awaiting a heart transplant
Caroline Tart has a heart for people and loves hearing their stories.
In recent months, though, she has been at the center of an unfolding story of her own, and the subject of many prayers.
Since May 8, she was hospitalized in Chapel Hill awaiting a heart transplant, celebrating her 24th birthday there in June.
The 90-day hospitalization had a positive outcome, when a donor organ was found and the transplant operation was performed July 14. This past week, she was released from the hospital.
Diagnosed at age 10 with cardiomyopathy issues, as a freshman at Rosewood High School she passed out at the beginning of her first state volleyball playoff game and was flown to Chapel Hill, where she got her first pacemaker. She was 14.
An aunt, Donna Kirby, had succumbed to heart issues. On July 17, 2006, Miss Tart's mother, Sandra Barnes, then a math and science teacher at Rosewood Middle School, had a heart transplant. Nine years later, the Princeton Middle School teacher is doing well, her daughter says.
Despite the family history, Miss Tart led a busy and active life, like others in her family lineage. Her dad is Denny Tart, a retired educator. Her grandfather, Dr. John Tart, who passed away in April, had dedicated his life to agriculture and education, serving an unprecedented two-year term as state FFA president during World War II and receiving the state's Lifetime Achievement Award at last year's FFA State Convention.
Miss Tart and her cousin, Dr. Jason Thornton, a veterinarian, had followed in their grandfather's footsteps by serving as state FFA vice presidents.
She became an agriculture teacher at West Craven High School. Earlier in the school year, she took ill and was later diagnosed with congestive heart failure.
Despite the uncertainty that could have prevailed, Miss Tart kept her spirits up, even during her hospitalization. Ultimately, she says, she knew God was still in control.
"Growing up and seeing (Aunt Donna) go through it, I did struggle with my faith for a while," she admits now. "I started to understand that maybe this is my purpose and part of my journey. I think I always knew that it was going to happen eventually. I knew everything was going to be OK.
"I had already talked to Him (God) about it, we were on good terms. I think that was a huge factor in my journey."
She credits outstanding doctors and nurses, as well as faithful family and friends with sustaining her during the wait for a new heart. To build a bridge from her sequestered hospital room to the outside world, she shared her experience on Facebook and a blog site, https://ctarttalks.wordpress.com.
"The hardest part is knowing that I am waiting for someone else to die so that I may live," she wrote in a recent post. "If any of you know me really well, then you know that I care about people and I would never let someone sacrifice like that if I could control it. I would never wish this pain upon anyone or any family so therefore I don't want to be part of the reason for this pain.
"However, either way it would happen because it's all a part of God's bigger plan but it is still a hard pill to swallow. This reason alone can make me rethink my transplant every single day."
Once she got word that a match had been found and surgery was imminent, things progressed pretty quickly. She did so well following the eight-hour operation, she was up and walking around the next day. She came home a mere three weeks later.
Now staying with her mother, she has a laundry list of precautions -- diet and lifestyle modifications, as well as anti-rejection medications she will likely take the rest of her life.
"I want to take care of this heart. This is a good beating heart," she said, adding that in addition to a heart pillow autographed by hospital staff, one of the "parting gifts" from her doctor was a stethoscope. "Partly because I got into the medical side of things, but (to remind me) that any time I get caught up in things, the stress, to listen to my heart.
"It is just amazing. I want to take care of it. I want it to last."
She still has a long road ahead, from recovery to frequent doctor visits in the coming months.
"The first year is the most critical," said Mrs. Barnes, who would like to see her daughter delay going back work. "I took off the whole year."
She joked that Caroline could use the time off to get a "good long head start" on lesson plans for when she returns to the classroom.
"If you did one every day for the next year, think how prepared you'd be," Mrs. Barnes said with a laugh.
Behind the scenes, grassroots efforts have been under way to keep the community aware of Miss Tart's situation. Fundraisers have sprung up all around under the header "Heart for Tart," also the name of a Facebook page established for her.
In addition to generating help paying for medical bills, the lifelong regimen of medications is also a costly proposition.
Grantham Grange, along with churches from the Grantham and Rosewood communities, have pooled resources for a large effort. A barbecue and barbecue chicken plate benefit and auction is being planned for Aug. 22 at Selah Christian Church. Among the items donated for the auction are jerseys and footballs signed by Pittsburgh Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown.
A youth group is also making applejacks to sell for $3 each. The goal is to sell 5,000 plates and 5,000 applejacks, said Carolyn Carter, one of the organizers and Ms. Tart's cousin.
For more information on the event, call 919-689-2905 or 919-920-3484. Donations can also be sent to Selah Christian Church, Attn: Dr. Jason Thornton, 4302 U.S. Hwy. 13 S, Goldsboro, N.C. 27530.
Depending on her energy level, Miss Tart said she hopes to attend at least a portion of the day's event.
"I'm excited for people to see that I'm doing well and that all their prayers have paid off," she said.