Roxanne Watson: Twice Saved - Forever Saving Others

Champion for Life — Advocate for Organ Donation

Medical miracles often unfold quietly behind hospital doors. Their stories dissolve into medical journals, absorbed into statistical write-ups, and scattered across the internet as survival rates and percentages — numbers, stripped of the people they represent.

In November, I had the pleasure of meeting Roxanne Watson — her journey has been anything but quiet. A woman who walked to the edge of life twice and returned each time with more determination, more purpose, and — despite everything — more generosity. A two-time heart transplant recipient and nationally recognized advocate, Roxanne has transformed survival into a mission that continues to change thousands of lives. She’s signed up more than 14,000 new organ donors since her first transplant, and she’s made it her mission to honor the gift of life and organ donation by growing donor commitments one conversation at a time. Her motto: “It’s a no brainer! You’re never too old or too young to help save someone else’s life – you can’t take them with you either.”

A Long Road to the First Miracle

Roxanne’s journey began nearly two decades ago with a silent heart attack — an event that slipped past her without warning but left permanent damage in its wake. Although she knew her family had a history of heart issues, she said, “I didn’t know that I’d actually had a heart attack when it occurred.  I walked around for six weeks between the time it happened until I went to the doctor and was diagnosed.”

  At the time, she was just like any other person — a mother, a sister, a daughter, a co-worker, and a friend. She never imagined that a trip to the emergency room would profoundly transform her life in the weeks and months to come. The diagnosis: heart failure. The solution: heart transplant.

That year, she’d be admitted to the hospital to wait — her world gradually narrowed to a hospital room without TV, lonely days and sleepless nights, endless beeps reverberating throughout the air as if to amplify consistent whiplash of her reality and a rollercoaster ride with faith. Although she endured a tiresome total of 104-day stay in the hospital for a heart transplant — Day number 78, in July 2010, everything changed.

Her lifesaver: 23-year-old Coast Guard and Firefighter, Michael Bovill, whose final act of generosity became her second chance at life. At the age of fifty-six, Roxanne received a new beginning. Michael’s heart allowed Roxanne to breathe, move, and live again — and it ignited in her a lifelong mission. With her new heart and a second chance at life, she vowed to Michael’s family: “I will continue to honor his memory by signing up as many people as possible to become organ and tissue donors,” Roxanne said.

From Survivor to Advocate

Many transplant recipients quietly rebuild their lives. Roxanne chose a different path. Within months of recovery, she began volunteering with LiveOnNY, a regional organ procurement organization. She joined WomenHeart as a public educator, working to close the gender gap in heart disease diagnosis and treatment. She shared her story anywhere she could: local malls, health fairs, churches, schools, naturalization ceremonies, senior centers, parades, radio, and television.

What began as a few community events blossomed into one of the most impactful organ donation advocacy efforts in New York State. Roxanne didn’t just inspire people — she signed them up.

One Conversation, One Form, One Human Connection at A Time

Each weekend, Roxanne sets up an organ donation awareness table at her local mall, aiming to share her story, spread awareness, break myths and stigmas about donation and to register as many people as possible to be organ donors. During our time together, she explained “I have an incredible story. I share my story with all ages, all walks of life, and across every socioeconomic background – I want to tell people how important organ donation really is – how effective it is at saving another person’s life.” She’s approached strangers at grocery stores, comforted patients in waiting rooms, and encouraged families during hospital visits. She charters this mission with unwavering conviction: “One donor can save eight lives. Your decision today can become someone’s tomorrow.”

Over the years, Roxanne has personally inspired more than 14,000 people to register as donors — an extraordinary achievement that represents the potential to save tens of thousands of lives through organs and tissue.

2025: A Second Heart Transplant

After more than a decade of advocacy, travel, and speaking engagements, Roxanne faced another medical crisis: complications that required a second heart transplant. She was older now and faced some challenges that were different from the first time, but Roxanne was determined to keep going forward. She confronted this new challenge with the same resolve that defined her first fight.

Once again, she waited – a stranger’s compassion saved her life, and she emerged even more determined to help others. Her second transplant deepened her commitment and expanded her message. Post recovery, she continues her mission. Her resilience, advocacy, and community impact earned her a ‘Key to the County’, in Rockland County, NY, where she resides. It’s a public acknowledgment of the extraordinary difference she has made.

Impact: More Than a Number

Roxanne’s influence stretches far beyond the 14,000 donor registrations she inspired.

She has:

●      Comforted grieving parents searching for meaning in profound loss

●      Offered hope to patients waiting for their own lifesaving match

●      Educated communities about heart health, especially women

●      Supported donor families whose loved ones saved lives

●      Advocated at the local, state, and national level for stronger donor enrollment initiatives

She is, in every sense, a bridge between the medical miracle of transplantation and the human stories behind it.

A Legacy Still Unfolding

Today, Roxanne Watson is more than a transplant recipient. She is a mentor, a storyteller, a community pillar, and one of the country’s most resolute donation advocates. Her life demonstrates the resilience of the human spirit and the profound impact of one person’s voice.

Her story reminds us that survival is not the end—it is a beginning. Twice now, Roxanne has been given the chance to write a new chapter. And each time, she has used her gift to create thousands more. In Roxanne Watson’s world and so many others like her, every heartbeat is a gift — and she intends to make every single one count.

• by Crystal Brasiola Waters