The Story of the Heart
The Story of the Heart as told on the Bucharest March for Life stage on March 28, 2026:
Once upon a time, we were all “Heart Project 1.0,” in an ultra-rapid development phase.
When we were the size of a poppy seed, of course a half-kilogram heart like ours would not have fit. But my heart — yours and mine — began exactly like this, at a tiny point like this, when we were in our mother’s womb.
It did not look at all like the heart we see in anatomy textbooks. And yet, from that tiny point, something was developing. There were no separate chambers or sophisticated valves. It was more like a… tube. A kind of “biological little hose” that, surprisingly, began to pulse. If it could have spoken, it would probably have said: “Don’t worry, I’m still working on the design!”
Who would have thought that a sandwich could be built inside something as small as a crumb of bread? The heart is no longer just a tube; it has begun to organize itself into layers. Two main layers — like a sandwich. Their names are quite complicated, but once you realize they are building something that would beat for a lifetime, you start to grow fond of them: endocardium and myocardium.
Now it almost begins to look like a heart… but not quite yet. What would we do if it had only two chambers, when every human heart has four? It is like having the blueprint of a four-room apartment… but a few walls are still missing. Construction is still in progress, but the direction is clear.
You would not expect the final architecture to be ready so soon, but what do you think — good people can fit even inside a walnut shell…
If we could hear it beating now, we might be frightened, because it beats at 160 beats per minute — about the speed of a horse’s heart at full gallop. Don’t worry, our hearts don’t beat at 160 beats per minute now, but once upon a time, we all achieved this performance.
Serious and strong, it pumps blood throughout the entire body — without pause, without vacation. If it had an employment contract, it would ask for night and weekend bonuses.
The same heart continues its rhythm — organized and precise — guiding the growth of the entire body and making sure every system receives its necessary fuel: oxygen and nutrients.
If it were a Formula 1 engine, it would be the most skilled racing engine of all. What engine starts working while still on the assembly line, while its parts are just being put together? What engine starts and never stops?
Excuse me, where is your sign?
Mrs. Ioana (Picoș) is a special kind of artist — let’s give her a few moments…
You all heard it…
The same heart that began as a point…
The same heart that was once a “tube”…
The same heart that built its four chambers step by step…
The same heartbeat at every stage.
The illustration of these stages has a simple explanation: at the beginning, the unit of measurement was the palm of the hand; now technology makes it possible to visualize children even in their mothers’ wombs. We thank erf.science for helping us have images of ourselves even before we see the light of day.
THIS WAS THE STORY OF THE HEART…
Every life is a gift, and the heart is a symbol of life. Let us protect the hearts of all children who beat together with their mothers’ hearts.
Because…
…our first love story was between two hearts that were only 40 centimeters apart.
See the film of the moment here:
