As News 12 celebrates National Heart Awareness Month this February, one Bronx resident is grateful to have a second chance at life thanks to lifesaving heart surgery done at the Montefiore Health System.

Nieves Castro says she treats every day like a gift of life ever since she got her second chance. Castro’s cardiologist, Patricia Chavez, told her that she could no longer indulge in her vices, like smoking and bad eating habits, after suffering two heart attacks.  

Those words got Castro to start treating her body better as a heart attack survivor. She continued to rely on an artificial device for 8 months that helped pump blood to her heart. Because of the severity of her condition, she still needed a heart transplant.  

After 13 days on the transplant list, she received the lifechanging call.  

Two days after her heart transplant, Castro was walking all on her own. She urges those to take their heart health more seriously.