The heart that beats in Allyson Gamble's chest isn't her own.

As Gamble expressed her gratitude to the families of organ donors in Utah on Saturday, she gently placed her hand over where the organ steadily pumps. Tears welled up in her eyes as she clutched her son in front of the crowd.

"I stand here today as a symbol of your generosity," she said. "I was given the miracle of a second chance at life."

The large crowd of families of organ donors and recipients gathered on the southeast corner of Library Square to unveil new names added to the "Celebration of Life" monument — a meandering glass wall etched with the names of more than 28,000 Utah donors whose organs were given to save the lives of others.

"This is such a remarkable moment in our community's history," Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson said. "These families have given a precious and priceless gift. Working together we can continue to do everything we can to save and improve lives."

The monument was erected in 2004 and bears record of donors dating back to the mid-1970s when the donor program started in Utah, said Dee North, organizer of the event.

The idea that organ donation improves lives is an understatement, especially for Gamble. For six years, she was afraid to sleep, knowing her failing heart might not beat through the night. It haunted her to the point that when she said "good night" to her husband, it was a masked "goodbye."

Gamble's heart had been damaged by a flu virus she contracted during the eighth month of pregnancy with her son, Ben. The damage was severe — but through miraculous events, both mother and son survived.

But Gamble's weakened heart changed things.

"They didn't know what kind of life I would have," she said. "I am lucky because I was able to live with it and lead a pretty normal life."

But in that normal life, there would be no chasing her young son, hiking or backpacking — things she loved and ached to do. So she threw herself into her work. But the benefit of obeying doctors' restrictions wouldn't last forever.

A checkup in April sent nurses in a frenzy — literally running Gamble through the hospital to have her heart stabilized. They said it was so large and pumping so inefficiently that she wouldn't have survived a few more hours, Gamble recounted.

Her time was running short. She needed a new heart but wasn't on the recipient list. Her dire circumstance put her near the top of the list to get the heart she needed, but only if the conditions were right.

At 6:22 p.m., Sunday, April 16, a day Gamble calls her "new birthday," doctors came to her room with the news that a heart had been found for her.

"The doctors told me it was a pretty heart," she said.

Gamble doesn't know much else about the 18-year-old whose heart was given to her, or the teenager's family — only that the sacrifice they made gave her a new lease on life, allowing her to chase her son, hike mountains and sleep peacefully at night without fearing she might not wake up the next day.

For more information about Utah's Donate Life Coalition, or to have a loved one's name added to the wall, visit www.yesutah.com.

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E-mail: nhale@desnews.com