Six-year-old Shivan Friesen, who got a new heart recently at UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital, has learned a lot about hearts lately - especially about those belonging to kind strangers like UCLA's John R. Sandbrook and his 80-year-old father, John H. Sandbrook, hearts big enough to pull you right in.

The youngster from Santa Maria, Calif., seemed healthy until one day last October when she lay down exhausted and couldn't get back up. Her parents, Susan and Ken Friesen, whisked her to a doctor who diagnosed her with dilated cardiomyopathy, a severely enlarged, weakened heart. She was airlifted to UCLA, where doctors determined she needed a heart transplant to survive.

Shivan was placed on a waiting list with the requirement that she live no more than an hour's drive from campus. After a discouraging search for affordable local housing, the Friesens decided they would have to separate: Ken and the couple's two teenage boys returned home while Susan, Shivan and two younger sisters moved into a rented 26-foot travel trailer in Valencia.

Shortly before Thanksgiving, an article in the Los Angeles Daily News described the family's plight.

"I just happened to read it," said Assistant Provost John R. Sandbrook of the College of Letters & Science, who owns a five-bedroom house with his father in Newhall. "I thought, 'This doesn't make sense.' "

"My son showed me the newspaper article," said his father. "I said, 'Well, why not invite them to move in?' "

The next day, they were at his doorstep. In the nearly three months that have passed, the children have learned to call the elder Sand-brook "Grand-pa." Shivan and her family will spend several more weeks in his home while she recovers from surgery.

"John didn't even know us," said Susan Friesen. "It took a lot of faith on his part. He's a real sweetheart."

Anyone interested in hosting a patient or family member can call the Spiritual Care Department at (310) 825-7484.