Alessandra Ramos
(CNN) Patrick Holland had been on the heart transplant list for a few weeks when he received a call last Thursday from the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle to say a match had been found.
The 56-year-old Alaskan man, who suffers from congestive heart failure, was due to receive a new heart.
“It was scary news to hear that I was going to have a transplant, to be honest with you. I was terrified,” Holland told “CNN This Morning” on Thursday. “And then I got excited.”
Holland rushed to the airport with his brother to catch the first flight from Fairbanks, Alaska to Seattle only to find it was canceled during a winter storm last week that affected much of the United States and took thousands of flight cancellations.
Airline workers found him a seat on another plane after learning of his predicament, but due to winter weather, that flight was diverted to Anchorage midway, something Holland didn’t find out until after the landing, he said.
“I started to panic,” she said, “and my worst fears started to overwhelm me. Because when you hear it, you think, there’s someone giving a heart and I don’t think he can wait that long. Because the longer you wait, the faster the fabric breaks down.
Alaska Airlines “bent over backwards to get me there,” Holland said. But several subsequent flights were also canceled and he told his brother, “I know I missed it, I know I did.”
Moments later, the transplant coordinator called him.
“He called me to tell me they were going to give his heart to someone else.”
Patrick Holland had been on the transplant list for a few weeks when he said he got a call about a matched donor.
Severe winter weather conditions have taken a major toll on the Pacific Northwest in recent days. The icing caused runways to close at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and nearly half of flights into and out of the airport were canceled on Friday, according to FlightAware.
Driving to Seattle was not an option.
Fairbanks is approximately 2,145 miles (3,452 kilometers) from Seattle. While a flight usually takes around three and a half hours, driving can be around 39 hours, if you drive non-stop in optimal weather and road conditions. There are also two border checkpoints along the way.
Being on the transplant list gives Holland a chance to get a new organ. Holland said he suffered a “massive heart attack at the age of 29” and a series of heart-related complications since.
“Each stage demands a lot from you,” she told CNN, adding that it impacts how she interacts with her seven children, who range in age from 36 to 3. “Now I can’t chase them for more than 30 seconds, and then my heart starts pounding like it’s out of my chest. And then if I go ahead, I’ll get an electric shock from my defibrillator.”
Waiting for an organ transplant isn’t as simple as “picking a number and waiting your turn,” according to the United Network for Organ Sharing.
“The waiting list is best described as a giant pool of patients,” the site says. “When a deceased organ donor is identified, the UNOS computer system generates a ranking of transplant candidates eligible to receive each organ. UNOS matches people waiting for a life-saving transplant with organs from compatible donors.”
Organs require specific storage methods to remain viable. For heart and lungs, the maximum storage time can range from four to six hours, while for kidneys it can range from 24 to 36 hours, depending on the organization.
Researchers perform a pig heart transplant on a deceased patient
Holland tried to see “the bright side of things,” he said. Someone else received a Christmas miracle, receiving the transplant originally intended for him, while he was able to go home and spend Christmas with his family.
“There’s a big part of me that feels like I let them down by not being in Seattle. I blame myself for that part,” he said, adding that he didn’t expect to get a transplant call so quickly.
Holland’s dream is to be able to keep up with his children, he told CNN. And he can’t wait to spend time with her wife, Haley, who has a Facebook page dedicated to her husband’s story.
“Our goal is to be more prepared for the second call,” reads a recent post on the page. “The first arrived in two and a half weeks. The next one could come at any time, or it could take weeks or months.”
Holland says he plans to find a temporary home in Seattle so he’ll be ready when called back.
For now, what keeps him going are his family, community and faith. He remains hopeful because “in the end I know where I’m going to be no matter what.”
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