13-year-old Tampa boy in urgent need of transplant after heart condition diagnosis

TAMPA, Fla. - April marks "National Donate Life Month" across the country, and right now in Florida, there are more than 5,000 people waiting for a lifesaving organ – including young children.

For the family of 13-year-old Victor Cruz in Tampa, a match can't come soon enough. His family just discovered last week that he has a rare heart condition and is now in urgent need of a heart transplant.

"He's just so happy. Running around, playing. Just like any other 13-year-old right now," his sister Louise Cruz said.

READ: Florida's chronically ill kids could lose Medicaid coverage on Easter Sunday

Victor just celebrated his 13th birthday on March 16. Louise said he seemed happy and healthy, but days later, all that changed.

"He was throwing up. He couldn't keep anything in his system. After maybe, like, 30 minutes after eating, he would just throw up," she said. "He was not feeling good. He was very quiet, very calm. He usually isn't. He's very up and active and playing."

The next day, their mom took him to the doctor who told them to go to the hospital. They immediately started running tests and found fluid in his abdomen caused by a heart condition they never knew he had called "dilated cardiomyopathy."

"His heart rate was up to the 140s, and he was just laying there," Louise said. "He wasn't even moving around or anything. They were like ‘his heart is over working.’ His heart is stressed out."

MORE: First responders face higher risk of heart attack and diet-driven diseases

That's when he was flown by helicopter to UF Health Shands Children's Hospital in Gainsville. He's now on a ventilator and heavily sedated as he and his family desperately wait for a matching donor to get a heart transplant.

"It could be a week, it could be days, it could be months, or it could be years just while he's waiting on the list," Louise said.

Until then, his sister said there is a device doctors can put on his heart to make it, so he can leave the hospital and wait comfortably at home for a matching donor, but for now doctors are still monitoring him at the hospital. 

Finding a heart from a deceased donor to match a 13-year-old isn't as easy as finding an adult donor, because child deaths only account for about 2% of all deaths. Louise said she and her family are praying and hoping for a miracle.

"It would mean everything to all of us, because we love him so much, and obviously, we want the best for him, and he hasn't had a chance to do much. You know, he's just 13. He has so much more to do," she said.

WATCH FOX 13 NEWS:

SIGN UP: Click here to sign up for the FOX 13 daily newsletter