Every Christmas tree outside the Walnutport recreation center has a theme.

One, cloaked with orange Flyers’ flags, is dedicated to the memory of a man who lost his battle after a heart transplant.

Patty Ingles, of Walnutport, decorated her tree with orange flags, silver garland and a picture of her son, William, who died in January 2017.

This is the second time Ingles has decorated a tree in her son’s honor.

“I walk up here with the dog a lot and visit (the tree) like I’m visiting William,” Ingles said.

William was born with transposition of the great arteries. At birth, the two main arteries carrying blood away from the heart were reversed. William underwent a total transposition correction of the great vessels at 10 months.

While the surgery improved William’s condition, it wasn’t a permanent fix.

In 2009, he was admitted into the University of Pennsylvania Health System and diagnosed with congestive heart failure. He was meant to be put on the transplant list then, but William decided to go the medication route instead.

But in October 2016, Ingles collapsed. His heart went into ventricular tachycardia, but his pacemaker kept him alive. He was taken again to University of Pennsylvania, where he stayed until a new heart could be found.

“A week before Christmas, he called me. He said, ‘Mom, you’re not going to believe this, they have a heart,’” Ingles recalled.

But the celebration was short lived. The day after the surgery, Ingles said, William was up and responsive. The next day, he coded. His brain was deprived of oxygen for more than 20 minutes. On Jan. 2, William was taken off life support machines.

He was 36 when he died.

“All the years of taking care of him, from the time he was tiny, the times being at children’s hospital first and then over to University of Pennsylvania when he got older, I was never afraid that I was going to lose him. I just never thought about it,” Ingles said.

“And then when this happened and he finally got a heart — I just never imagined life without William,” Ingles said.

William’s three sons, Theory, 10; Dare, 9; and Silas, 4, helped decorate their father’s tree.

“They were very excited to help Gram make the ornaments,” Ingles said.

For Ingles, decorating the tree is a way to remember William. She said William, who worked in IT at PenTeleData, was a smart kid. He was a father who loved the Flyers, Marvel and Transformers.

“I always want to do something in William’s name — always,” Ingles said. “I’m always thinking of something.”

“I have to talk about William,” she added.

Other trees in the display were decorated by community members and local businesses. The Diamond Fire Company wrapped theirs with yellow caution tape and topped it with a red firefighter cap. Northern Lehigh Girl Scout Service Unit 733 adorned theirs’ with handcrafted ornaments.

The trees will be on display through the new year.