NICHOLAS’ JOURNEY

Raising awareness of pediatric organ donation

Honor a Hero

Nicholas Eirich was born a fighter. He had no choice. He was born on December 9, 2004, and shortly after, at only nine days old, had open heart surgery.

It was the first of countless surgeries and procedures he was forced to endure. His fight was constant, his toughness as incredible, and his complaints were rare.

He had his first heart transplant at age 14.

To chronicle his search for a donor heart as well as the successes, complications, and setbacks that followed, we created a Facebook page, Hunting for a Heart - Nicholas's Journey. It was a reference to his great love of hunting. Thousands of people followed his story for information but also for inspiration.

Despite a second heart transplant at age 18, his fight sadly ended on February 8, 2024.

He was a hero to his cherished family and friends as well as to many others while alive, and he continues to be a hero today through this foundation, which he helped plan and shape.

About Us

Nicholas' Journey Foundation was founded in honor of Nicholas Eirich, a young man who went through a journey that spanned over a decade and two heart transplants.

Why have this particular foundation? This foundation was created to help educate and carry on conversations about organ donation, facts and emotional testimonies will be given to organizations. In addition to this, and Nicholas’s idea is to help families that are going through this donation process by taking care of some of the needs and wants to make families' lives a little less stressful.

Through the eyes of Nicholas and his family, they witnessed that a lot of the families who had to experience extra hardships were not as fortunate as them. We will be helping in many different ways, some examples are:

For family members that stay in the rooms with family members comfort kits that can include: Face wipes, cushions or pillows, coffee gift cards for the breaks, energy bars, books, and many more.
For the patients, handheld games (Nintendo Switch as an example)
For Families in need, we will help with hotel stays, gas cards, and gift certificates to local restaurants.

This is just a short list of some of the ideas that we have and what actions we are doing.