It’s been quite a year for former Lady Vol volleyball player Danielle Mahaffey from becoming her little brother’s caretaker while her father recovered 250 miles away in a Nashville hospital after a heart transplant to working on a master’s degree to deciding to become a head coach.

The Mahaffey family’s life uprooted in late 2023 when Jamie Mahaffey had go to an emergency room and ended up being hospitalized at UC Medical Center in Cincinnati with congestive heart failure. It would be more than five months before he returned home.

The father of Danielle and her brothers, Evan and Eric, and husband of Robyn Mahaffey had dealt with serious heart issues for 12 years and had hoped a transplant could be delayed until his youngest son finished high school. But he ended up being transferred to Vanderbilt University Medical Center because of its specialized heart transplants for patients in critical condition. The operation started at 8:30 p.m. on a Sunday in January and ended 10 hours later.

Jamie Mahaffey finally made it back to Cincinnati on June 7 following a medical ordeal that would take his right leg below the knee and the toes on his left foot because of major circulatory issues as his body tried to adjust to the transplant. He spent weeks on machines that did the work of his heart and lungs and was placed in an induced coma. Throughout the months in Nashville, his wife, Robyn, rarely left his side except to go to an apartment, sleep and return to the hospital. An additional detailed story can be read HERE.

Meanwhile, Evan Mahaffey was playing basketball for Ohio State, and Eric Mahaffey was finishing his senior year of high school before enrolling this summer at Akron to play basketball. Danielle Mahaffey was teaching middle school math in Cincinnati and became Eric’s caretaker at home from making sure he got to school to getting to the teenager’s basketball games to cooking dinner every night.

The Mahaffey family visits with Jamie Mahaffey, center, while he recovered from a heart transplant. (Photo: Mahaffey family)

Danielle Mahaffey already had her career path mapped from getting a master’s degree to becoming a special education teacher. She had no thoughts about coaching. Mahaffey was part of Lady Vol volleyball coach Eve Rackham Watt’s first season at Tennessee. The middle blocker arrived as a freshman in 2018 just after Rackham Watt had been hired. She graduated in 2022 with a degree in mathematics and was part of the culture that turned around Lady Vols volleyball and returned the program to SEC and NCAA success.

“Because I was a captain, I would always talk with Eve, and I would tell her all the time, ‘I am so glad I’m not in your position. It is so much to do and so much to take care of. You’re in charge of everything. Whatever happens, it falls on you. You’re a trouper,’ ” Mahaffey said in an interview with Knox TN Today. “Then I got into middle school coaching, and I really fell in love with being with the girls and seeing them grow. I decided to take a chance and now I’m the varsity head coach.”

Mahaffey will debut at Northwest High School, the same school she played volleyball at and graduated from before becoming a Lady Vol. The opening match is Aug. 17. School officials called to offer her the job and added a surprise.

“That was when they told me that I would be in the Northwest High School Hall of Fame which was really cool,” she said.

Mahaffey sent a text to Rackham Watt to share the news.

“She was really excited,” Mahaffey said. “I definitely plan on reaching out throughout the season, like, ‘What would you do in this situation?’ I’ve been doing that with all my past coaches, so it’s been nice for them to be excited for me and then willing to help out whenever I need it.”

Rackham Watt and her other coaches instilled Mahaffey with confidence to seek the top job at her high school after a short middle school stint on the sideline.

“I’ve had female coaches that I’ve looked up to since I started volleyball,” she said. “I think the biggest thing is just understanding that as women we can do it And even as a young coach, I can do anything that I put my mind to. I think being with coaches that are women has grown my confidence and has made me become a person that is willing to do anything that is set in front of me.”

The medical ordeal took a financial toll on the family and a nonprofit organization created a fund to help. Donations of any amount are welcome HERE – it’s a quick signup with an email address – and are tax-deductible. Butch Carter, a longtime family friend, is the founder and executive director of NIL Donor Inc., which was formed in 2020 to help athletes and their families. All of the donations will be provided to the Mahaffey family.

“The biggest thing, the medical expenses, of course, we’re going to be dealing with that for a really long time,” Danielle Mahaffey said. “He doesn’t get cleared to work for a couple more months. It would help tremendously.”

Eric, Danielle, Robyn, Evan and Jamie Mahaffey before his heart transplant. (Family photo)

Jamie Mahaffey’s gratitude list is long.

“It’s huge,” he said. “God first. The only way I made it through was the grace of God. That’s the foundation, but the support is huge.”

He also comforted his family throughout his medical journey, especially when his children had to be told about his leg amputation.

“He settled all of us because when we heard the news about him having to get his leg amputated, we were like, ‘Oh my goodness, how is he going to be mentally?’ ” Danielle Mahaffey said. “He was like, ‘You know, I came in here to get a heart. And I did just that. So this is one thing that is going to have to happen for me to have this heart and for me to live stress-free and without fear of what could happen to it. I’m OK with where I’m at.’

“So we were like, ‘OK, if you are in that mindset and you are telling us that we’re OK, we’ll be good.’ ”

Jamie Mahaffey will have monthly checkups in Nashville for the rest of 2024 to ensure his new heart stays on track. Starting in January, it will be every three months. Robyn Mahaffey drives the couple there the evening before the checkup and then drives back when it’s done to get them both home as soon as possible.

“I can tell the difference in my life,” he said. “What I’m supposed to do, I have energy for it. I just need to get this other leg going. I am just joyous to be here.”

Danielle Mahaffey with her parents, Jamie and Robyn Mahaffey. (Family photo)

Jamie Mahaffey has used his prosthetic on some short test walks and has increased his steps. A respected and championship winning coach in Cincinnati, he played college basketball and has mentored hundreds of youngsters during his years as a high school and community coach.

“He’s walked, and he’s in therapy right now,” Danielle Mahaffey said. “His prosthetic actually has basketballs on it, so he loves showing it off. At first it was one step at a time but he’s now getting smooth and walking normally.

“He’s loving being able to stand tall. At church the other day my mom got teary-eyed because it was his first time standing during praise and worship and being able to stand the whole time rather than sitting in a wheelchair.”

Since her brothers both play college basketball, the family also will make trips to Columbus and Akron in 2024-25 when everyone can align schedules.

“It’s so nice that they’re driving distance,” she said. “It’s really nice that they’re close.”

Mahaffey will complete her final year of master’s degree studies, serve as an educational aide for a special education teacher and start her high school coaching career.

“This year is a full year of learning – as a coach and as a future special education teacher,” she said.

Maria M. Cornelius, a senior writer/editor at MoxCar Marketing + Communications since 2013, started her journalism career at the Knoxville News Sentinel and began writing about the Lady Vols in 1998. In 2016, she published her first book, “The Final Season: The Perseverance of Pat Summitt,” through The University of Tennessee Press.