Boy’s Life Is Celebrated on Transplant Anniversary

Born with a defective heart, Robbie Shinn wasn’t supposed to live very long.

With his blood type, the chances for a lifesaving transplant were so remote that his parents, Westminster Police Officer Chuck Shinn and Renee Shinn of Midway City, had begun planning his funeral.

Six years ago this week, Robbie was within hours of death when a matching heart became available, sending family members on what they say has been a remarkable journey filled with unexpected joys and endless challenges.

“He definitely is a miracle,” said Renee Shinn, 32. “If he were to go tomorrow, he has already touched so many lives.”

Robbie was only 2 weeks old when he underwent the transplant operation at Loma Linda University Medical Center.

But the surgery was only the beginning. Over the years, Robbie has endured three rejection episodes, including one in 1996 that nearly killed him.

“It’s a constant balancing act,” said Chuck Shinn, 38. “You are dealing with keeping him from rejecting the heart on one end and then, because his immune system is compromised [by anti-rejection medication], you’re dealing with infections and viruses on the other end.”

Robbie is now a kindergartner at Bethany Christian Academy in Westminster. He has enjoyed long stretches of health good enough to allow him to play for the Blue Angels team in a YMCA T-ball league last year.

He also likes to roller-skate and ride bikes with his 16-year-old brother, Vincent, to whom he is especially close.

And there have been funny moments, such as the time he begged to take his old heart to “sharing day” at school, a request that Loma Linda politely declined.

Then there was the time Chuck Shinn arrested a man who recognized him from a television show and asked about Robbie. “I said, ‘He’s doing OK and sorry, but you’re still going to jail.’ ”

But since January, Robbie has had a series of health problems that have left him lethargic and his face temporarily swollen from steroids, making him a bit self-conscious about his appearance. He’s been in the hospital eight times this year for various ailments including a bout with double pneumonia. He is currently suffering from a viral infection that has been difficult to treat.

“It’s a whole lifestyle,” his mother said, and has been for virtually all of the Shinns’ marriage. They met on a blind date in 1991 and married one month later. Robbie was born the following year. (The Shinns also have two children from previous marriages and two daughters they adopted in 1995.)

Six years ago, the Shinns said, they had a choice about whether they wanted that lifestyle.

“Some people aren’t willing to do that. They gave us that choice, and we thought if he could fight and get through it, we wanted to give him a chance to live. We were willing to fight too.”

The Shinns, who are devout Christians, credit their faith and the support of their church, family and friends for helping them get through tough times.

“Although it sounds like it could be very difficult, I wouldn’t trade the experiences we’ve been through or the joy that we’ve gotten for all the tea in China,” Chuck Shinn said. “It’s just a real blessing.”

One of those joys has been knowing the family of the donor, a 7-week-old boy. Shortly after the operation, the Shinns wrote to Tim and Michelle Torgerson of Wisconsin, who immediately called.

“We sat and cried on the phone,” Renee Shinn said. “We still write all the time. We have stacks of letters from each other.” The Shinns also were flown by the show “20/20” to Wisconsin for a televised meeting.

In their occasional forays into the spotlight, the Shinns said they encourage people to become organ donors.

“It’s so important,” Renee Shinn said. “You could be saving somebody’s mother, somebody’s father, their child. “

Chuck Shinn said he and his wife have “always looked at Robbie as such a gift. It’s almost like he’s on loan from heaven.”