'I can breathe again and talk': Emotional words from teen who wakes from surgery will leave you in tears

Sullivan's goal is to spread organ donation awareness.

Nearly a year after 15-year-old Trevor Sullivan was diagnosed with a serious medical condition, he received a gift that forever changed his quality of life.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - When Trevor was 14-years-old, he learned he was suffering from heart failure. 

Trevor's father, Philip Sullivan, told ABC News that Trevor was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy in February after he was "feeling sick" for nearly a year.

"We just chalked it up to 'We don't know whats [sic] going on,'" Sullivan said. "In September 2014, he was on the football field and said he didn't feel good...we thought it was allergies."

Unfortunately for Trevor, his problem was far from a case of aggressive allergies.

The teen was airlifted from a hospital on February 12, 2015 to the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital when he experienced sudden heart failure.

He remained in the hospital until March 6, when he was allowed to return home and was added to the heart transplant registry.

According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, "About 3,000 people in the United States are on the waiting list for a heart transplant on any given day. About 2,000 donor hearts are available each year."

Sadly, anyone who "has a serious medical event, such as a stroke, infection, or kidney failure" can "be taken off the list for some time," but lucky for Trevor, he was eligible for a transplant and was able to receive one after only nine months on the waitlist.

Following the successful surgery, Philip described his amazement at Trevor's transformation.

Philip wrote: "To see him 17 days ago, to see how weak he was feeling, could hardly take a deep breath without feeling exhausted, could only take a small walk around 11 west floor, and was starting to get depressed about being in the hospital for two months...and to see him now. He is up and moving around, can't keep him still!"

Though Trevor's life-changing surgery occurred on November 13 last year, a video of what he said when he woke was only posted to Gift of Life Michigan's Facebook page on January 21 and has since garnered nearly 1.5 million views.

In the video, with the caption, "THIS. This is what the gift of organ donation can do. This is why we #DonateLife," Trevor wakes and, between heavy breaths, cries, "I'm so happy. I've been waiting so long. I'm so happy. I can breathe again and talk."

Trevor continues to cry as his father asks, "Do you feel good? Do you feel good?," to which Trever replies, "I feel amazing. Amazing. I never felt so good. 

His father's emotional reply is to ask if he should cut the video, which Trevor agrees with. Both can be heard crying as the camera cuts out.

Trevor's mother, Kimberly, said the transplant saved her son's life. 

"It felt like it was better than the day he was born," she cried.

Philip was so moved by the strangers who donated their loved one's organs that he decided to become a donor.

Tim Makinen, the communications director at Gift of Life Michigan, said: "This week, Mr. Sullivan posted that incredibly moving video of his son as he came out of the surgery. It has gone crazy and since that time, Mr. Sullivan is interested in promoting organ tissue and [eye] cornea donations. It looks like he's going to be one of our volunteers."

Though the Sullivan family has not received information about the donor or their family, Philip wanted to say, "Thank you for saving my kid."

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