Recently, at the Freedom Town Hall and Pavilion, approximately 125 people gathered to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Judy Stevens’ Heart Transplant.
In a celebration of life, the family asked not for gifts but for donations for a scholarship that had been started in the Donor’s name. The family is very happy to say that they were able to send the Jan Jones Memorial Scholarship $1000.
Judy Stevens, a Freedom resident, has been a resident of Portage County for over 50 years. She is a retired teacher’s aide who worked for the Portage County Board of Mental Retardation. At 54 years old, she suffered a massive heart attack and was living at the Cleveland Clinic on a heart mate machine waiting for a donor heart.
During that time, there was a young, aerobatic pilot who was killed in a plane crash near Cleveland. The pilot was an organ donor and Stevens was blessed to receive her heart. 20 years later, Stevens is a 74-year-old, active and healthy mother, grandmother, great grandmother and friend to many.
