This story was originally published in the Miami Herald in partnership with the Lee Caplin School of Journalism & Media.
Claude Jn Baptiste was driving his wife, Yvka, and kids home after last year’s New Year’s celebration when he felt something wasn’t right. He asked his wife to take the wheel, but before she could reach the driver’s seat, their car rolled forward and crashed into another on busy Las Olas Boulevard.
For Jn Baptiste and his family, the crash would mark the beginning of a life-altering year.
Originally from Haiti, Baptiste, 38, was an air traffic controller. He and Yvka immigrated to New York City in 2021 searching for stability and safety for their twins, Ian and Iris, who were then age 5. Then they moved to Florida.
“I didn’t like New York,” Claude said. “I think it was rough, and, you know, we’re used to a tropical vibe.”
Claude pieced together jobs, then landed at Spirit Airlines. He was determined to build an aviation career, but by then, his heart was already failing.
In 2022, he unexpectedly passed out in a CVS. Then there were more unexplained incidents, and he was diagnosed with Preserved Ejection Fraction (HFpEF), a type of heart failure. Doctors installed a defibrillator to help his heart function and allow him to continue working.
He adjusted his diet, exercise, and medications. For a while, those steps seemed to help, but his heart continued weakening. Then there was a stroke and the crash following the New Year’s celebration. He needed a heart transplant. Due to Claude’s large build, height, and O blood type, finding a suitable heart would be difficult. He spent seven months in the hospital waiting for a heart that never came.
But he didn’t lose hope. He felt it was his duty to uplift everyone else going through the same situation.
“He just lights up a room,” said Sara Hammond, the social worker who evaluated Claude for the transplant and saw him almost daily for months. “There are a lot of people who wait here for heart transplants. He’d get everybody out of their rooms. They all became like family.”
Hammond, who nominated Claude for the Miami Herald’s Wish Book program, has gotten to know the family. She watched Claude go through this whole process while Yvka juggled nursing school, hospital visits, and event planning while parenting twins on a few hours of sleep.
Claude says his wife and kids have motivated him.
“If they were going through so much, I had to fight,” he said. “I prayed a lot. I knew I was going to make it.”
After nearly 300 days in the hospital, Claude became too sick to keep waiting and the doctors proposed a left ventricular assist device (LVAD), a mechanical pump that helps his failing heart push blood through his body. The device requires him to wear a controller and battery packs at all times, with a cable exiting his abdomen. He can’t swim or submerge himself.
The LVAD surgery allowed him to finally leave the hospital in August 2025.
“The first shower I took when I got home, I cried,” he said. “I cried in the shower because it’d been months… it felt so good just to feel the water again.”
Slowly, he regained his strength and learned to walk around the neighborhood and shop for groceries again. And he spends time at home with his kids.
The couple’s twins, now 9, are thriving academically. The family’s bond is strong, and their work ethic is even stronger.
But financially, they are on the edge.
Claude was laid off from his job at Spirit right before his hospital stay and has been unable to work. Yvka is currently a nursing student. They garnered some money through a medical fundraiser, but all of it has gone to rent.
He was denied Social Security Disability insurance. Almost a year after applying, he was told authorities couldn’t confirm he was disabled.
“If we were only waiting on government assistance, we’d probably be on the streets,” Yvka said. “The hospital helped us a lot. But there was nothing else.”
The family is requesting rental assistance and Walmart gift cards to use for food. Additionally, the twins and their mom share one tablet. Two more would help all three on their academic journeys.
Looking to the future, Claude dreams of one day finding a heart for transplant and traveling the world with his family. He wants to assure his twins grow up knowing that, even in the hardest years of their lives, kindness and perseverance matter more than anything.
