Baby born 8 years after NJ mom has live-saving heart transplant

The heartbeat of infant Colette Crowell was a miracle born out of heartbreak.

The 5-month-old baby’s birth came nearly eight years after her mother received a new heart from a Long Island high school football player killed in a freak accident, with his organ transplanted into deathly ill stranger Karen Hill Crowell to save her life.

The very special delivery was cheered not only by the excited new parents, but also by the equally thrilled family of Thomas Cutinella.

“We got together under such unfortunate and tragic incidents,” the new mom told the Daily News. “And this is the positive thing that came out of it. Definitely his heart has given life to our daughter.”

New mom Karen Hill Crowell with baby daughter Colette .Hill is holding a picture of Thomas Cutinella.

The emotions run just as strongly for Kelli Cutinella, whose eldest son died after a helmet-to-helmet collision during an Oct. 1, 2014 game. The 16-year-old stood up after the hit and then collapsed on the field, dying at a local hospital despite desperate efforts to save the youth’s life.

Two days later, his heart was transplanted into Crowell, who welcomed her little girl on May 26 this year.

“The first heartbeat she ever heard was Tom’s,” said Cutinella, her voice filled with emotion. “This validates that Tom’s heart was incredibly strong when he passed along the gift of life.”

Thomas Cutinella (Courtesy Kelli Johnson Cutinella/)

Crowell, 30, became a member of the extended Cutinella clan when Thomas’ heart was transplanted into the then-Fordham University student. Crowell was a cross-country runner in high school until a congestive heart failure diagnosis derailed her athletic career and left her with a grim prognosis of transplant or death.

When Thomas died, she was hospitalized with a regimen of IVs and electrodes to keep her faltering organ functioning. A lasting connection was forged from the tragedy and the transplant, with Kelli Cutinella first inviting Crowell to her suburban home in 2015 to launch their friendship.

“They came to our wedding, and she came to our baby shower with her sisters and their mom,” recounted Crowell. “It was very special to me and my whole family to have them there. We developed a close bond over the years.”

Karen Hill in Manhattan in 2018. Hill wears a bracelet engraved with heart donor Thomas Cutinella's initials that was given to her from the Cutinella family. (Shawn Inglima for New York Daily News/)

The two even teamed up in 2018 to join the annual Tunnel to Towers 5K run that ends at the site of the World Trade Center.

The heart donation was arranged through LiveOnNY, the nonprofit organization committed to finding organ and tissue donations for New Yorkers in need. The organization continues to celebrate its donors this month in a campaign that launched in September amid good news on the donor front.

LiveOnNY reported a major uptick in the first six months of 2022: A 33% increase in organ donors, a 32% increase in tissue donors and a 40% increase in organs transplanted.

Karen Hill, left, and Kelli Cutinella. (Courtesy Karen Hill/)

Crowell recalled how her new heart gave her more than a new lease on life.

“It’s funny, Kelli told me one of Tom’s favorite foods was chicken fingers,” she recounted. “I’d been a vegetarian for years, and after the transplant chicken fingers became one of my favorite foods.”

For Cutinella, word of the baby’s birth brought back memories of the future that she imagined for her son before the night of his tragic death.

“He was such a remarkable person, I always thought he would be an amazing father,” she said. “We hoped for Tom to be a dad. And now, through this gift of life, he was able to do that.”

The first-time mom said she’s had no medical complications in the years since Thomas provided her with the life-saving gift. And now she’s celebrating the arrival of a little girl delivered thanks to the generosity of a teenage stranger.

“She’s doing great, the best,” said Crowell of her daughter. “She’s very funny, hitting all her milestones. And she recently discovered her toes.”