Ten-month-old Opelousas girl receives heart transplant after months of surgeries

Kye Price
·2 min read

OPELOUSAS, La. (KLFY) — Ten-month-old Izla Jolivette has been fighting for her life ever since she was born.

Every step of the way the girl from Opelousas called Baby Joy has endured much, including many surgeries to keep her alive, any one of which could have failed her.

But just months ago, Baby Joy’s mom, Cristie Jolivette, says the family received a miracle: A new heart.

“At the very end of the month we received an offer,” Cristie said. “Of course I was not expecting her to tell me they had accepted a heart for my daughter. The fact that they found a match for her a lot earlier was just unbelievable.”

Baby Joy was born in September 2023 and was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy three months after she was born. From there, she’s had to undergo several procedures and surgeries to keep her alive from Lafayette to New Orleans and to Houston. After being told Baby Joy would need a new heart, the family was put on the wait list and was told by doctors it could take up to a year to receive a new heart.

“She was given a second chance at life,” Cristie said.

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She says she looks back on all the moments where Baby Joy was fighting for her life, and gains inspiration from her.

“If she can get through all of that, I can get through anything, I can fight through anything,” she said. “I can find the courage to defy the odds because she’s doing it effortlessly.”

Cristie says she looks forward to watching her daughter grow up and live life to the fullest.

“We’re just excited for her to just walk around and just enjoy being a little girl and not having to worry about that stamp of you have heart disease,” she said.

“She could’ve died before she got here.”

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