For the past 26 years, hundreds of people have gathered in Denver for the annual Donor Dash. The 5K run/walk is dedicated to honoring, celebrating and recognizing those whose lives have been impacted by organ and tissue donation. This year, a nurse from Parker is taking part for the first time, in honor of her patients and the organ donor who saved her life.

"I really can put myself in their shoes, being a patient," said Heather Dykstra, an OR nurse at AdventHealth Parker.

Inside an operating room, Dykstra finds great purpose in helping others. She's worked as a nurse for 20 years and has seen the fear some patients have when they enter the operating room. It's in that room that Dykstra serves as a beacon of hope.

"Even for simple surgeries, patients can be really nervous, so it's nice to be the nurse that can come and help calm them down," she said. "I tell them, 'I know how it feels to be a patient, I am here for you.'"

Last March, Dykstra was on life support.

"My liver was shutting down, my kidneys were shutting down," she said.

It happened out of nowhere; the otherwise healthy 43-year-old felt her heart racing and was short of breath.

"I kind of put it off thinking maybe I'm having some anxiety, but that's not something I typically deal with," said Dykstra. "I kept thinking, 'I'm fine, I'm fine,' until I really wasn't."

Dykstra explained she was in cardiogenic shock with myocarditis and pericarditis. Doctors told the mother of two she needed a heart transplant to survive.

"It was all very traumatic," she said, holding back tears. "I've got young kids at home, so it was like, 'What's going to happen to them if I don't come through this?'"

On a Monday, Dykstra became one of the more than 100,000 people in the U.S. waiting for a transplant, joining the over 3,500 in need of a new heart. Her case was so severe, she was rushed to the top of the national donor list, and by Friday, a match was found.

"It was Good Friday and my dad's birthday," Dykstra recalled. "My dad passed away 20 years ago, so I knew he was looking out for me."

Two weeks after walking into the ER with heart complications, Dykstra was wheeled out with a new heart. She would spend months, though, in the ICU during a very difficult recovery, which included relearning to walk.

"I was so decompensated I couldn't stand on my own," she described.

Yet Dykstra found strength in her family and friends who came to visit, as well as her many coworkers who raised awareness for organ donation as part of the 2024 Donor Alliance Donor Dash.

"I was just absolutely honored that they did the Donor Dash last year in my name," Dykstra said.

And this year, Dykstra will proudly walk in the annual 5K for the first time.

"I'm not afraid to show my scars," she said. "Scar tissue is stronger than the original, and I feel that way, too."

Once again, Dykstra is a beacon of hope.

"I hope to just continue to promote the movement of signing up for organ donation and thanking the families that signed their loved ones up to be a donor," she said. "I'm hopeful to one day learn who that person was [who gave their heart] to give a huge thanks to their family."

The 26th Annual Donor Dash is , at Washington Park in Denver. CBS News Colorado is a proud sponsor of the event, and evening anchor Michael Spencer will once again serve as the emcee.