THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, JUnE 19, 2026 Page 5 Caps off to the Class of 2026. Congratulations! 100 Salem Turnpike, Saugus, MA 01906 WINWASTESAUGUS.COM FATHER’S DAY | FROM PAGE 3 mal. 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. FATHER’S DAY GREETINGS: Sabbir Sakib still has the “I love you” note that Sabrin had made for her dad on Father’s Day last year. During a two-month stay in the hospital last fall, Sakib frequently referred to the note as he awaited a life-saving heart transplant. (Saugus Advocate Photo by Mark E. Vogler)
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