Racheal and Nykia are dancing in the Spotlight on Life Gala to spread the message of hope that organ donation brings.

They share a special connection - something that very few people will experience: Racheal's son Dylan (pictured below) passed away and Nykia received his heart.

Nykia has had a long health journey since 2015. While she was working at Time Warner Cable, she was having difficulty breathing and was coughing excessively. After a misdiagnosis as a virus, she finally found answers at Aurora when they determined her heart was functioning at 5%. Her journey to transplant was rigorous and met with infection, blood transfusions, stroke and constant trips to the hospital. Her medical team worked with Nykia including medications, a defibulator, an LVAD and eventually being added to the transplant list.

There was light at the end of the tunnel when she got the call that a heart was available. Her reaction - "Am I dreaming or is this really happening?" On August 7th, 2018 it did happen and Nykia received a life-saving heart.

If you met Nykia today, you would never know she was a heart recipient. Her message about organ donation is "I want to help spread the word," says Nykia. "People should know how important it is. Before this, I hadn't thought about it very much, but you never know when you might need an organ, so be an advocate for organ donation."

Racheal's son Dylan died in August 2018 of a heroin overdose. She is not only an avid advocate for organ donation, but also for those battling addiction. As a parent who lost her child to addiction, she wants to bring light to the subject of organ donation and what that can mean for the donor family. "Many addicts don't feel they have any worth," says Racheal. "Organ donation gave Dylan something to leave behind - some more worth in the end of life." In addition to his heart, Dylan donated both kidneys and lungs, his pancreas and liver.

Racheal and her husband Chris have 3 other sons - Devon (22), Dante (20) and Christopher Jr. (18). They also have a 14 month old granddaughter, Skye Dylan.

In September 2019, Racheal and Nykia met for the first time. Nykia wanted to give something to her donor family. At one of her appointments, her doctor gave her an echo recording of her heartbeat. She put that recording in a Build-A-Bear bear and gave it to Racheal so she could always hear Dylan's heart.

"I hope that more people can experience something like this," said Racheal. "I think it's amazing. I feel blessed and grateful."

Racheal and Nykia will dance to "I'll See You Again" by Carrie Underwood.