Why Maxie's heart attack story on General Hospital is giving us all the feels

Maxie's heart attack storyline is more than just a current drama on General Hospital. Felicia's daughter having a heart crisis is a throwback to one of the show's most popular storylines from over 30 years ago!

General Hospital, heartbeats

In 1994, Maxie, then played by Robyn Richards, became ill and was admitted to the hospital for tests. Heart surgeon Dr. Monica Quartermaine (Leslie Charleson) tended to the young girl, and it was soon discovered that she needed a transplant.

Mac Scorpio (John J. York), who was involved with Felicia (Kristina Wagner), Maxie's mother, tracked down Maxie's dad, Frisco (Jack Wagner), a globe-trotting spy.

Back in Port Charles, Miguel Morez (Ricky Martin) saved school children from a bus accident. BJ (Brighton Hertford), who was Bobbie (Jacklyn Zeman) and Tony's (Brad Maule) daughter, was among the victims. She suffered an injury in the accident that left her brain dead. After testing, BJ was declared a match for her cousin.

A torn Tony told a devastated Bobbie that she should know BJ was technically brain-dead, as she was a nurse. "I'm a mother," a tearful Bobbie countered

Frisco joyfully told Tony that a donor had been located, unaware that the girl who'd give up her heart for Maxie was BJ. Felicia, upon seeing the look on Bobbie's face, cried out, "Not Barbara Jean!"

After his daughter's heart was placed in the body of Maxie, Tony listened to BJ's heart beating inside Maxie's body. The pulsating beat of BJ's heart, now beating inside of Maxie, was a sound that veteran GH viewers will never forget!

Affairs of the heart

This isn't the first time Maxie's heart condition has been addressed. Twenty years ago, she suffered another heart attack and needed another transplant. Maxie didn't want to give up her cousin's heart, however. BJ appeared to Maxie as a spirit and let her know that she lived not in Maxie's heart but in her loved ones' memories.

In 2024, Hertford reprised BJ on General Hospital as a spirit in the form of Angela Brighton, a woman who pretended to be a reporter who attended the funeral of Bobbie, BJ's late stepmother.

Now, Maxie's heart is once again the focal point of a storyline on General Hospital. Bobbie and Tony are both gone now, and Frisco isn't on the canvas. However, Mac is there for Felicia, as is Lucy (Lynn Herring), BJ's former stepmother, courtesy of her marriage to Tony.

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The story of Maxie's original heart transplant remains one of the most memorable on General Hospital.

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