22-Year-Old From Concord Needs Heart Transplant After Illness

CONCORD, NH — A 22-year-old from Concord who just graduated from nursing school is now in search of a new heart to save his own life.

Karen Zwick, Ryan Zwick's mother, told WMUR she believes her son had COVID a couple of weeks ago and was dealing with lingering effects. In the descriptions of multiple fundraisers, including on GoFundMe and Give a Hand, loved ones report he had been studying for final exams for nursing when he came down with a mysterious illness, which doctors found was a viral heart infection.

Zwick went to the doctor struggling to breathe before ending up in the cardiovascular intensive care unit of a hospital in Las Vegas, at which he underwent a five-hour open heart surgery, his mother said, according to WMUR.

"He has no health insurance as he had been an older student," reads the description of the Give a Hand campaign.

The Zwick family is no stranger to hardship. Karen Zwick told WMUR that her son was inspired to enter the nursing field after tragically losing his sister Brooke Bucknam, who was found dead in a Concord park four years ago after having recently been diagnosed with a medical condition.

"I know what it’s like firsthand to lose a child," Karen Zwick told WMUR. "I don’t want to go through that again."

The GoFundMe description continues: "Having just embarked on his journey as a compassionate healer, Ryan has dedicated his life to caring for others ... The need for a heart transplant and the associated medical costs are daunting. We are reaching out to our community, near and far, to rally together and support Ryan on this challenging, evolving path."