Ten years ago, on Marathon weekend 2016, David Dipersia received the gift of life—a heart transplant at Tufts Medical Center that would give him a decade of cherished moments with his family. This April, his daughter Amanda will run the 130th Boston Marathon in his memory, carrying her father's spirit with her through every mile of a race they’d once dreamed about together.
A journey that began in crisis
After Christmas 2014, Amanda and her family learned David’s heart was failing and would need a higher level of care than their local hospital could provide. They chose to take him to Tufts MC, where he underwent emergency surgery. David was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and mitochondrial disease, a condition that would impact every facet of his health for years to come.
Eight months later, David was stable enough to return home with an LVAD, a mechanical pump that would sustain him while he waited for a new heart. He was relisted for transplant, and the call came in April 2016—Marathon weekend.
"I remember when we drove into Boston from Worcester," Amanda recalls. "We got off at Fenway and drove under the bridge that says ‘Boston Strong.’ I remember thinking, 'Okay, we can do this. We can get through this huge surgery for our family.'"
The gift of time, the power of care
The transplant gave David ten more years of life. He walked Amanda down the aisle at her wedding. He met his grandson. He celebrated his fortieth wedding anniversary with his wife.
That anniversary, in August of 2025, came while David was in the ICU at Tufts MC. "The nurses decorated their room with hand-colored decorations," Amanda remembers. "Staff are so busy, so to take the time to do something like that was very meaningful to our family. It's those little things that make such a difference."
Throughout David's complex medical journey—managing not just his transplant but the cascading effects of mitochondrial disease—the coordination of care at Tufts MC was extraordinary. He became well-known across departments, as his case required seamless collaboration among specialists in cardiology, infectious disease, gastroenterology and more.
"Our family has nothing but great things to say about Tufts Medical Center," Amanda emphasizes. "We’ve interacted with hundreds of people. From medical assistants to environmental services, nurses to physicians, social workers to ICU pharmacists—everyone was instrumental in his care and supporting my mom through everything."
Turning grief into gratitude
Just two weeks after David passed away on September 16, 2025, Amanda began looking for a way to honor him. When she discovered Tufts Medical Center offered charity bibs for the Boston Marathon, she applied immediately. Within days, she was accepted.
"I just felt like it was fated, that it was meant to be," Amanda shares. "To do this as a way to show my gratitude for everyone who took care of him at Tufts Medical Center, to raise money for something so important, but also as a healing process."
Amanda had run half marathons before, with her dad always there cheering her on. Before he passed, she shared a goal with him. "I told him, 'One day I'm going to run a full marathon. I'm going to run Boston, and you're going to be there with me.' He said, 'I'll be at the finish line with my arms open.'"
Boston will be Amanda's first marathon. With guidance from Team Tufts MC running coach Rick Muhr and the support of her teammates, she's embraced the challenge—even the brutal winter training runs—as part of her journey toward that finish line where her father promised to wait.
A legacy of love and hope
After David passed, the entire family got matching tattoos of the ASL sign for "I love you"—a gesture the family adopted when David began losing his hearing. Amanda knows she'll look at that tattoo as she pushes through those final miles and infamous hills.
When she crosses the finish line in April, she imagines her father in his Red Sox shirt and hat, Dunkin' coffee in hand, beaming with pride.
"The end of the race will feel both beautiful and sad," Amanda reflects. "That I've accomplished this huge goal, raised the money, ran 26 miles, but also thinking of that image of him saying he'll be there. It'll be very emotional."
Through her fundraising efforts, Amanda hopes to support the groundbreaking research and compassionate care that gave her family ten years they might not have had. "Hospitals like Tufts Medical Center need money to keep caring for families like mine and advancing medical technology and research," she says. "In the past, patients would never have been able to leave the hospital on an LVAD, but my dad was able to go home. That's the impact that funding can make."
As Amanda prepares to run through the streets of Boston on April 20, she carries with her a decade of gratitude, a lifetime of love and the warmth of her father’s pride at every mile.
