BELLA VISTA, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — Mackenzie Maddry, 19, a Bentonville High School graduate who overcame heart failure, will appear in a Hallmark Christmas movie later this year.
Maddry, who serves as an ambassador for Abbott HeartMates, a program created by Abbott Laboratories to support patients living with heart conditions, will appear in “The More the Merrier.”
Mackenzie Maddry, 19. (COURTESY: Abbott Laboratories)
The film, set in a hospital during the holiday season, will feature Maddry, NFL safety Damar Hamlin and four other young HeartMates ambassadors, according to a news release.
In the movie, a 14-year-old heart patient named David brings “unexpected joy, connection and a few surprises to everyone around him” during a Christmas Eve snowstorm, according to an Abbott news release. The character is based on Zeke Mankins, a Dallas HeartMates ambassador who received a mechanical heart valve after open-heart surgery at age 12.
Abbott makes devices including the HeartMate 3 LVAD, which supported Maddry’s heart while she awaited a transplant.
Diagnosed at 14 with osteosarcoma, Maddry underwent 21 cycles of chemotherapy that weakened her heart, according to a release. In 2022, she received a HeartMate 3 LVAD, becoming the first pediatric patient at her hospital discharged with the device.
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After nearly two years on the transplant list, she received a heart transplant in 2024, graduated from Bentonville High School, and is pursuing a career in healthcare.
Hamlin, who suffered cardiac arrest during a Buffalo Bills game in January 2023, made a full recovery and played 14 games last season.
(COURTESY: Abbott Laboratories)
Since then, he has become active in heart health advocacy through Abbott and the American Heart Association. “The More the Merrier” will be his second appearance in a Hallmark movie this year, the other one being “Holiday Touchdown: A Bills Love Story.”
More information about the HeartMates program and the upcoming film can be found here.
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