Father Leaves Behind a Tribute to Son's Transplant

Many families leave memories behind when they depart SSM Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital after their child’s treatment. The Jordan family left a part of itself in a new building.

Kody Jordan, 12, received a heart transplant at Glennon in August 2002. His family now lives near Kansas City, but he had become a Glennon patient while his family lived in the St. Louis area.

Kody was born with tetralogy of Fallot, a complex heart defect. He underwent heart surgery at Glennon two years ago, said his father, Scott. "That bought him some time, but his heart was just wearing out. It finally had all it could take."

In May, Kody was placed on the heart transplant waiting list by his cardiologist, Ian Balfour, M.D. When a donor heart was found, Kody was transplanted on August 12 by Andrew Fiore, M.D., chief of cardiothoracic surgery at Glennon.

While Kody was hospitalized for the transplant, his father, Scott, admired the progress of the new patient care wing being built by Alberici Constructors. He expressed an interest in working on the project while he was staying in St. Louis.

"I’m a union carpenter. Someone talked to one of the foremen and I got hired on out there," he said. "They took me out of the kindness of their hearts. I worked on the building for about a month, then they sent me to their main shop until it was time for Kody to go home."

On large building projects such as the Glennon expansion, carpenters handle such jobs as building concrete forms, framing walls and installing doors and drywall, he said. "They’re the all-around tradesmen on a building."

Scott has been a carpenter for seven years, following his great-grandfather, grandfather and father into the profession after ten years in the U.S. Army. During the Army years, he said, Kody’s heart problems were treated by doctors at several hospitals."

We’ve been around the world, and this is one of the best hospitals we’ve been to," Scott said. "The hospital is great. Kody loves his nurses. Everybody treats you like you’re part of a family. This is our second home. I could have talked to other contractors, but I really wanted to work on that building."

Kody left Glennon in October and has been doing well since he received a new heart. He is getting tutoring at home that should enable him to keep up with this fifth-grade classmates. Scott has returned to his own business as a contractor who builds custom homes.

Kody’s father is proud that he was able to help build a new part of the hospital that gave his son a new start on life. "I saw that building come up out of the ground," Scott said. "It was cool."