Rare double transplant helps Special Olympics athlete get back in the game

Jonathan King feels most at home on a playing field.

The 27-year-old competes in basketball, softball, and flag football through the Special Olympics. Sports have been a constant throughout his life, despite health challenges. King was born with a single heart ventricle, a serious congenital heart condition that has required multiple open-heart surgeries, some of which were complicated by strokes.

Still, he never saw himself as limited by his condition.

That changed in October 2025.

A new game plan

A routine ultrasound revealed a benign tumor on King's liver, connected to complications from his congenital heart condition. The finding forced King to trade practices and games for medical appointments and tests.

Specialists across cardiology, transplant surgery, and hepatology determined that replacing only one organ would not be enough. The best path forward was a new heart and a new liver.

King became among the first patients to get a combined heart-liver transplant at Fairview East Bank University Hospital, known to many patients today as M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Medical Center. The hospital is the only hospital in the Twin Cities that offers the procedure.

King's care, led by Kimara March, MD, an interventional cardiologist and adult congenital heart disease specialist with M Physicians and Fairview, reflects the kind of complex, coordinated care that Fairview and M Physicians, also known as University of Minnesota Physicians, teams are working to make possible for patients across Minnesota. M Physicians is the faculty practice group for the University of Minnesota Medical School, which means its physicians care for patients while also teaching future doctors and advancing academic medicine.

"Needing a dual organ transplant of heart and liver is rare," said Tamas Alexy, MD, a heart failure and transplant cardiologist with M Physicians and Fairview, who is also an associate professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School. "But ultimately it was the best treatment strategy for him to live as 'normal' of a life as possible and reduce risk of having liver damage down the road."

Pressure on the right side of the heart can be significant for people with congenital heart defects like King's. It's the heart's way of adapting so it can continue to pump blood throughout the body. But that pressure also builds up in the liver, increasing risk of liver fibrosis, liver injury, and liver cancer.

"Being able to offer him the surgery is huge," Dr. Alexy said. "For us, being part of his life and being able to do something for him that will help him achieve what he wants in the future is why we do it. We want him to live as long and as full of a life as possible and enjoy a quality of life that allows him to focus on things he couldn't in the past."

King said time stood still after hearing Dr. Alexy's recommendation as he grasped the magnitude of the procedure. Ultimately, he decided to go ahead with it, becoming only the second person to have the procedure in the Twin Cities.

Waiting on the sidelines

The next step was for King to check into the hospital, where his care team could run the necessary tests for him to qualify for organ transplants. He would need to stay in the hospital until transplant, which could take several months. One patient waited a year for a heart and liver to become available.

"We're seeing long wait times for hearts," Dr. Alexy said. "And unfortunately, the wait times are getting progressively longer, and people like King are spending a lot of time in the hospital."

King decided to make the most of it by bringing his gaming system, some books, and photos to make his room feel more like home. Once settled, he leaned into his athletic side and walked laps on the unit floor as a way of coping and staying physically strong.

"One of the nurses said she gets 40-something thousand steps in one shift, so I used that as motivation and said I'm going to hit 50,000," he said.

His laps around the hospital didn't last as long as he initially thought. On his 20^th day in the hospital, King learned that a match had been found. He was scheduled for transplant surgery the following day.

The surgery took 26 hours as teams worked together to transplant both organs.

Finding his way back to the field

After a month of recovery in the hospital, King went home. He's still recovering from the procedure while his body gets used to its new organs.

"The first couple of weeks were as expected with lots of rust," he said. "I could do stairs, but I was still pretty limited to what else I could do."

King has been doing cardiac rehab and rebuilding his strength. He recently graduated to walking around a nearby lake and was cleared to play softball this summer. He's had to take a break from high-intensity sports, like basketball, but that hasn't stopped him from supporting his team by going to practice anyway.

"I wanted to be around those teammates and in that environment. It helps me feel at home," he said. "Special Olympics gives me that opportunity to continue playing while also making some amazing friendships. Everyone comes from different walks of life, but we're all here because of some sort of medical or physical or cognitive disability. I'm very grateful that I have this opportunity to be a part of something bigger than myself."