Windsor girl receives new heart, becomes an aunt and gets her home back all in one weekend

It's a Christmas miracle for a little girl from Windsor — born with a birth defect where the left side of her heart did not form correctly. 

Two days after she blew out her birthday candles, eight-year-old McKayla Warder received a heart transplant after spending more than 480 days on a waiting list.

"It's going to be the best Christmas ever. There's no other gift that we could ever ask for," said her father, Justin Warder.

Her family moved to Toronto when McKayla was placed on the transplant list. During that time, she and her family — parents and two siblings — stayed at the Ronald McDonald House in Toronto.

Justin said wherever they went, they had to bring oxygen tanks for McKayla.

"If we go to church, we plan on going for a couple hours. So we bring two tanks, which is good enough for four hours," he said. 

"If somebody wants to do something afterward, we can't just wing it."

He said the family would have to rush home every time they didn't bring enough oxygen during an outing. But with the transplant complete, the eight-year-old will no longer have to be hooked up to oxygen tanks everywhere she goes. 

Not the only Christmas miracle that weekend

On Friday, McKayla's birthday, a string of good news came to Justin.

Back in April, the Warder family's home was severely damaged due to a house fire. And two days before the transplant on Friday, the family was able to repossess their home.

"I was excited because it was my daughter's birthday. I was a little bummed out not to be there, but I was here at the home, and I was excited about getting the home prepared," said Justin.

And then he heard his daughter-in-law was about to give birth to a baby girl.

"I got to hold her that day. It was beautiful."

Justin's granddaughter and McKayla's niece, Eliana, was born in the early hours of Saturday morning.

"I basically had a house, trying to get furniture. And in the same day, having a grandbaby. I thought the weekend couldn't get any greater," he said.

A few hours later on Saturday, Justin received a "very emotional" call from his wife in Toronto.

"She told me the heart came ... I didn't know what to do," said Justin, adding he drove home to pick up some clothes before immediately heading to Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto.

The heart transplant started at about 4 a.m. Sunday and ended 4 p.m. the same day.

In the days since the procedure, McKayla's recovery has gone very smoothly, according to her father. He said doctors at Sick Kids Hospital may even discharge her back to Ronald McDonald House as early as Saturday.

"I didn't think she'd be out of sedation for, at least, a couple weeks. She's sitting up. She's drinking water. She's doing all the things she normally did before."

Now, with Christmas just days away, Justin said he's excited to see his daughter's smile as she spends time with the rest of the family at home — and not in the hospital.

"What more could I ask for?"