His best Father’s Day ever

Saugus dad said his 6-year-old daughter inspired him to remain hopeful last fall as he waited for a new heart

By Mark E. Vogler

Father’s Day has always been a special occasion for Sabbir Sakib, who celebrated his 25th birthday six years ago with his wife giving birth to a baby girl. But the day will be even more meaningful this weekend for the 31-year-old Saugus dad, who has gotten a second chance at life, having undergone a heart transplant last fall.

“It was a difficult time – it was very hard on me and for the family,” Sakib recalled of the more than two months he spent in Massachusetts General Hospital waiting for a new heart.

“At times I got thinking, ‘Am I going to make it or not?’ But Sabrin, my little girl, helped me a lot. She inspired me to get through. I kept telling myself, I need to live for her,” he said.

“During the time I was there waiting for the transplant, she would go to the hospital almost every single day. She would hold my hand and would say ‘Baba, nothing will happen to you. You’ll be going home soon.’ And she would tell my wife, ‘Don’t cry, dad will be home soon.’ Sabrin was there to show her love and support,” he said.

For some additional inspiration, Sakib would look at his cell phone case where he kept a little “I love you” note that Sabrin had made for her dad on Father’s Day last year.

“Last Father’s Day was normal. I was really good. Nobody knew I had heart failure at the time,” Sakib said.

It was until last Aug. 29 at his annual medical checkup that Sakib learned that his heart was failing and that he needed a transplant. “When they told me, I cried,” Sakib said of the bad news he received from the doctors.

He went to the hospital to await the availability of a heart donor. The transplant finally happened on Oct. 19. “After the transplant, I woke up and realized that I really made the journey and I can really feel the difference. Before the transplant, I had shortness of breath. Now, I can walk up to 40 minutes and some days I can walk an hour. And I do bicycling inside. I don’t have any restrictions right now, just doing things gradually,” he said.

Sakib returned home on Nov. 4. He recovered enough so that he could go back to work on May 9. He works a regular 40-hours-a-week job as a clerk at the Swampscott Post Office.

“I’d like to thank everybody who helped me through the journey,” Sakib said. “My parents, my wife, my brother, my sister, my doctors and nurses, all of my friends and my little princess [his daughter, Sabrin]. And I’m really thankful to the donor family. Without them, I probably don’t survive. I also want to thank the donor services [New England Donor Services, NEDS].

Sakib said he has written a personal letter to the donor family, expressing his gratitude for the gift of their loved one’s heart. “I need to know who the kind person is, but I didn’t get a response,” Sakib said. “I’d like to meet them in person if they agree to it. I’m really thankful to the family for donating the heart.”

Sakib, joined by family and friends, plans to observe Father’s Day a day earlier (tomorrow, Saturday, June 20) at his home on Saville Street, where he lives with his wife (Sadia Binta Jamil), their daughter, his brother (Sabban Sakib), his dad (MD Siddique) and his mother (Khaleda Begum).

Sakib grew up in Bangladesh, a country in Southeast Asia located near India. He immigrated to the US in 2014 and became a citizen in 2019. He bought his house in Saugus in 2021. He has worked for the U.S. Postal Service for seven years. His brother works in the Lynn Post Office.

Sabrin, who is in Kindergarten at the Veterans Early Learning Center, is looking forward to celebrating Father’s Day with her dad. “She wants some Bubblegum-flavored ice cream, some chocolate and a toy,” her dad said.

“We’re going to celebrate Father’s Day with a family gathering on Saturday instead of Sunday. It will be a special day for my dad, too,” he said.

Sakib said he owes the New England Donor Services a debt of gratitude and plans to work as a volunteer for NEDS, helping to advocate for the life-saving importance of organ donation. In 2025, NEDS coordinated organ donations from 640 deceased donors, resulting in 1,692 life-saving transplants. This record number of organ transplants represents the fifth consecutive year of growth and places NEDS among the nation’s top three organ procurement organizations (OPOs) by donor and transplant volume.