Grateful to the Bone. Alive to the Soul.

Heart Transplant, Transplant Anniversary, Mental Health, Gratitude, Photography

Still Beating. Still Becoming. Still Here.

Six years ago today, I was given another chance at life.

Not a restart. Not a rewind. But a continuation—stitched together by surgeons, by love, by the gift of a stranger, and by something greater I still struggle to name.

Just a few days ago, I turned 60.

There was a time I didn’t think I’d see 50. And now here I am—older, softer, weathered, alive.

It’s been an emotional few days.

There’s joy, yes. A deep, aching gratitude for the breath in my lungs and the heart in my chest. But there’s also a quiet tide of feeling that comes with anniversaries like this—waves of memory, of what was lost, of what was survived.

Fracture

Mental health is the quiet part of a journey like mine.

It doesn’t show up on the scans. It isn’t stitched closed in the operating room. But it’s there—raw, persistent, and deserving of care. The weight of survival is real. And sometimes, joy and grief walk side by side.

To my donor and their family—thank you. Your gift is the reason I’m still here.

To those walking this path: be gentle with yourself. Healing is never just physical.

And to life: thank you.

For the second chances. For the hard days. For the love I get to feel. For the fact that I am still here.

:: Rand

All images are copyright Rand Leeb-du Toit, 2025