Hannah Ginther: 2026 Riley Champion presented by Kroger
A ringing phone breaks the 14-hour silence of the surgery room waiting area at Riley Hospital for Children on a Sunday afternoon in August 2017.
“Her new heart is beating.”
Hannah Ginther’s parents, Kevin and Trinity, breathe a sigh of relief hearing these words before erupting into a moment of celebration with their family.
“At that moment, that’s pure excitement,” Trinity said. “Yes, you’re still scared. You don’t know what the journey is going to be like from there, but we haven’t known what the journey was going to be like the entire way.”
For the first three-and-a-half years of Hannah’s life before this transplant, she had been living with “half a heart.” Hannah was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, undergoing three surgeries by this point while also experiencing lung issues — operating with one lung due to failure in her left one.
“It was the biggest span of emotions I have ever felt at once for so many reasons when we found out she was getting a new heart,” Kevin said. “It was a magical night.”
Hannah stayed at the Heart Center at Riley Hospital for three months as she settled into life with her new organ, spending some time on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (a heart-lung life support machine) while dealing with high pulmonary pressure. She had three more stays at Riley over the next year and a half before turning a corner at 5 years old.
The pediatric transplant team, including coordinators Maegan Boehm and Debra Murphy, walks alongside families like the Ginthers throughout the entire transplant process. Boehm nominated Hannah for the Riley Champions program.
“Love them,” Hannah said. “They are just so nice. Ms. Maegan is pretty special to me. She’s always there for me.”
“Maegan and Debbie are angels on earth,” Trinity added. “We have scary moments. They are just always there for us.”
The Ginther family has donated Play-Doh to the Riley Cheer Guild — a favorite activity of Hannah’s during her time at Riley — and keeps the teddy bears Hannah and her sisters received over the Riley stays in a special place. Today, Hannah is 11 years old and loves playing volleyball and basketball, cheering on her sisters at their games, and learning everything about makeup.
“Hannah and her family live life to the fullest,” Boehm said. “Hannah herself is always smiling, dancing, singing and just being her sassy self."
Hannah sees Riley pediatric cardiologist Robert K. Darragh, M.D., every few months for check-ups. Trinity describes their experience with Dr. Darragh with one word: “unbelievable.”
“I feel like even though she’s a complex story, Dr. Darragh always knows exactly what to do,” Trinity added.
Hannah shared her Riley story at Ball State University Dance Marathon this past year, and she and her family look forward to where this next year will take her as a Riley Champion.
“She is my biggest inspiration by far, and my biggest hero,” Kevin said. “Since Day 1, she’s been an absolute fighter. She’s carried that into this stage of her life.”