10-Year-Old Girl Awaiting Heart Transplant Has Father-Daughter Dance in Hospital Room: See the 'Stunning' Moment

An Ohio girl had her dream come true, participating in a father-daughter dance despite being hospitalized while waiting for a heart transplant.

Ava Cooper, a 10-year-old from Akron, was born with several congenital heart defects. She had open-heart surgery at just six days old, the first of four open-heart surgeries she’d have by the time she turned 5.

In May 2024, Ava suffered from a severe sinus infection that led to her going into heart failure. She has since been at Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital waiting for a donor heart.

"It can be scary sometimes, and you just have to be brave and just stay positive to help make it better," Ava told WKYC after being in the hospital for 200 days.

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Dr. Shahnawaz Amdani, head of pediatric heart function and transplant, described Ava as "resilient, strong, vibrant, active, and full of life."

Due to her hospitalization, Ava missed out on a lot of her favorite activities, including attending her school’s father-daughter dance this year. After learning about the event, medical staff decided to recreate the experience for the fourth grader right in the hospital.

Caregivers transformed the hospital room into a dance floor with floor-to-ceiling heart shaped streamers, party lights and balloons.

Ava’s mother, Jamie Cooper, got her a flowy pink dress and did her hair and makeup. Her father, Sean Cooper, waited outside her hospital room with a matching pink corsage in hand for his little girl.

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Due to her condition, Ava is connected to a ventricular assist device, called a Berlin Heart, which keeps her alive by helping her heart pump blood throughout her body. She is only able to be disconnected from the device for 30 minutes a day, so her medical team helped carefully transport her to the dance hall safely.

As Ava walked down the hall with her dad, caregivers greeted her with a round of applause.

The beautiful moment was captured on camera and shared by Cleveland Clinic Children’s. Ava and Sean then danced together to a playlist of her favorite songs.

"There is a girl who's special to us here who does Ava's music therapy, and she sang a Taylor Swift song, live, a capella, with her guitar, and it was stunning, and that made me cry just watching the two of them dancing," Jamie told ABC News of her daughter and husband.

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Ava told the hospital that her favorite moment was the slow dance with her dad.

“My dad is like having the best friend a girl could ask for,” she said.

"I'm honored and so thankful to be her dad," Sean added, calling Ava his "A1 from day one."

Sean later told ABC that he hopes the video of the sweet moment inspires people.

"I hope that people can always find light in the darkness," he said.

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