A family related to JD Vance is calling on the Vice President and Trump administration to step in after their daughter was denied a new heart.
Jeneen Deal, from Indiana, said she was issuing the plea on DailyMail.com because she ‘doesn’t know how long’ her 12-year-old daughter Adaline has left.
Adaline has a heart defect that puts her at risk of heart failure and stops her body from circulating oxygen properly, making her reliant on a wheelchair.
The schoolgirl has had all of her major vaccines — including the MMR and polio shots — but her parents have refused to get her inoculated against Covid and the flu because of their religious beliefs.
The family says they are also concerned about the small risk of heart damage noted with the Covid vaccine in particular.
Jeneen says she is not seeking ‘special treatment’ but is urging the government to allow everyone who needs one to get a transplant regardless of their vaccination status.
She told this website: ‘I pray that President Trump and all of the states will stand up for everyone facing vaccination status [discrimination] due to their conscientious and religious beliefs.’
According to the family, Cincinnati Children’s in Ohio has refused to put Adaline on its transplant list for a new heart, saying that the vaccines are needed because she will be on drugs that suppress her immune system for the rest of her life.
Responding to the case, the hospital said it evaluates every transplant patient with a ‘focus on long-term success’, adding that the availability of organs for transplantation is limited.
Adaline has a condition called Ebstein’s anomaly, which is where a valve in her heart does not work properly — meaning blood can flow backward.
She also has Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome, which is a condition that causes the heart to beat abnormally fast for periods of time. The right side of her heart is also greatly enlarged.
Ms Deal said her daughter used to run around at home and loved to go swimming after she received an operation to fix a valve in her heart at a younger age.
But over the last year and a half, she said that Adaline’s condition had deteriorated and she now relies on a wheelchair.
People with her condition live to around 37 years old on average, but studies show they have a significantly higher risk of heart failure and sudden death.
Jeneen said: ‘You know, I’m a mom, I want to know how long we have, I want to be prepared and know that she isn’t just going to die on me right then and there.
‘But the doctors, they just don’t know how long she’s got or anything like that.’
She added: ‘They just tell us that if she starts declining over the weekend or showing sudden changes then we should rush her into the hospital and call them if it’s a weekend.’
Cincinnati Children’s says it requires heart transplant patients to be up-to-date on vaccinations because transplant patients are put on drugs that weaken their immune system and put them more at risk of infection.
There is also a major shortage of transplantable organs, with 3,500 people on the waiting list for a new heart nationwide. And hospitals also have a responsibility to the families of organ donors.
But Dr Aseem Malhotra, a British cardiologist close to new health secretary Robert F Kennedy, said: ‘This is appalling and unethical.
Adaline has a condition called Ebstein’s anomaly, which is where a valve in her heart does not work properly — meaning blood can flow backward
The condition puts her at risk of heart failure and stops her body from circulating oxygen properly, making her reliant on a wheelchair
‘This decision making, in my view, reflects gross ignorance of the evidence which reflects that for a 12-year-old child, the Covid vaccine could cause more harm than good.’
The American Academy of Pediatrics and the CDC both recommend all children get the Covid vaccine.
Studies have linked the Covid mRNA vaccine in rare cases to myocarditis, or inflammation of the heart muscle, in patients, especially young boys.
A 2022 study found that 0.95 per 100,000 people who were administered the vaccine were diagnosed with the condition.
Dr Malhotra is also behind the HOPE Accord, which calls for Covid mRNA vaccines to be withdrawn, claiming there is a ‘causal link’ between them and an alarming rise in excess deaths worldwide.
Pictured above is Jeneen Deal, who is Adaline’s mother
Most hospitals require patients to be up-to-date on around 11 vaccinations, also including those against whooping cough and hepatitis, before they receive a heart transplant — and the Covid and flu vaccines.
In a statement, Cincinnati Children’s said: ‘We approach every transplant evaluation with a focus on long-term success, guided by medical science and an unwavering commitment to patient safety.
‘Organ donation is a profound and selfless gift from another patient and family, and the number of available organs is limited.
‘Our responsibility is to ensure that every donated organ is used in a way that maximizes successful outcomes for children in need.’
The Deals say they are now considering transferring Adaline’s care to alternative hospitals, like the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, which says that it is ‘preferred’ but not mandatory for transplant recipients to have the Covid shots.
She has set up a GoFundMe to raise funds for Adaline’s heart transplant, and to cover costs if they need to go to a hospital not used by the state insurer. It has so far raised $60,000 out of its $100,000 goal.
Adaline is one of 12 children and one of the eight that the family has adopted from abroad. Adaline was adopted from China.
She also suffers from cerebral palsy, a condition caused by damage to the brain that leaves her struggling to communicate with and understand others. DailyMail.com has contacted JD Vance’s team for comment but had not received a reply at the time of publishing.