Mackenzie Maddry holds the Abbott HeartMate3 left ventricular assist device. Maddry was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in 2020, and she developed chemotherapy-induced cardiomyopathy in 2021, requiring a heart transplant. The device helped pump her heart before she received a heart transplant in June 2024. She participates in the HeartMates ambassador program, where she shares her health stories and how the device helped her. (Courtesy of Dori Maddry) Let us read it for you. Listen now. Your browser does not support the audio element.
BENTONVILLE -- A recent Bentonville High School graduate and heart transplant recipient will be featured in a Hallmark movie later this year.
Mackenzie Maddry, 19, of Bella Vista serves as an ambassador for Abbott HeartMates. Abbott Laboratories is a health care company that produces medical devices such as the HeartMate3 left ventricular assist device -- commonly referred to by its acronym, LVAD.
An LVAD assisted Maddry's heart in pumping blood and allowed her to return closer to a normal quality of life while awaiting a new heart from 2022 to 2024. She joined the Abbott HeartMates ambassador program to raise awareness about the device and share her experience with potential users.
Maddry -- along with four other young HeartMate ambassadors -- will make an appearance in "The More the Merrier," a Hallmark Christmas movie set at a hospital. Damar Hamlin, a safety for the NFL's Buffalo Bills and the HeartMate program's first ambassador, will appear alongside them.
Hamlin, 27, suffered cardiac arrest during a game Jan. 2, 2023. He made a full recovery and started in 14 games last season with the Bills. He has also gotten involved with multiple heart health-related organizations since his cardiac incident -- including Abbott and the American Heart Association -- to raise awareness.
In "The More the Merrier," a 14-year-old heart patient named David brings "unexpected joy, connection and a few surprises to everyone around him" during a snow in on Christmas Eve, according to a Sept. 10 Abbott news release. The film stars Rachel Boston and Brendan Penny as doctors.
The character of David is based on Abbott HeartMates ambassador Zeke Mankins from Dallas, according to the news release. He underwent open-heart surgery at age 12 and received an Abbott Masters mechanical heart valve to repair a leaking mitral valve.
Hamlin selected Mankins as the first youth member of the HeartMates ambassador team. He now competes on his high school track team and is an accomplished trombonist and aspiring pilot.
The other HeartMates ambassadors appearing in the film are Tony Daly, 10, who was the first person to receive Abbott's Amplatzer Piccolo Occluder to close a hole in his heart after being born prematurely; Jaden Hartley, 16, who went into cardiac arrest while on vacation and received an LVAD and later a heart transplant; and Rian Krauth, 9, who was born prematurely and received an Amplatzer Septal Occluder device instead of open-heart surgery at age 2.
Maddry graduated from Bentonville High School in May after overcoming years of medical hurdles. She was diagnosed at age 14 with osteosarcoma, a common but malignant form of bone cancer, in her leg. She subsequently underwent 21 cycles of chemotherapy.
"A year later, I had to have more surgeries where my tumor site was, and that kind of went downhill really fast, because my heart just couldn't take all those surgeries," Maddry said in a May interview. "And I ended up in end-stage heart failure."
Maddry used an LVAD beginning in 2022 while waiting on a heart transplant. Dr. Lawrence Greiten, a pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon at Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock, took part in installing Maddry's heart device.
She was the first pediatric patient in the state cleared to return home with the device. Greiten described this as "novel" and said the HeartMate technology helped her live more of a normal teenage life.
"By implanting this in her, not only did we support her heart, but we also supported her social development and life as a normal teen," he said during a May interview.
Maddry now draws on her experience with the LVAD to advise others using the device via the HeartMates program. Dori Maddry, her mother, compared managing the device to charging a smartphone; an LVAD has strong battery life, but it is up to the user to make sure it always stays charged and does not lose power.
"We wanted to create a safe space for patients -- and caregivers," said Nadim Geloo, senior director of medical affairs in Abbott's Structural Heart business, in a March 21 Abbott news release about the HeartMates program. "Diagnoses can be very anxiety-provoking and can make you feel quite alone. For patients, you can talk to your family, but sometimes it helps to talk to other people who are going through the same journey and not feel like you're burdening your family members or friends."
Maddry also travels to HeartMates events in her role as an ambassador. She first met "The More the Merrier" co-star Hamlin while speaking at an event in New York City in April 2024.
Abbott Laboratories described the film as "more than a holiday movie" in the Wednesday news release.
"It's a celebration of a community coming together to support one another through unexpected turns -- which is exactly what the Abbott HeartMates program is all about," the organization said in the news release.
The film's release date and additional details will be announced Sept. 17, when Hallmark officially announces its "Countdown to Christmas" lineup.