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Alaskan man Patrick Holland, who suffers from congestive heart failure, recently missed his chance of a heart transplantation after a flight cancelation due to the ongoing winter storm that battered parts of the USA during Christmas.
Holland was reportedly placed on the transplant list for a few weeks and reportedly received a call from the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle last Thursday, December 22, after the hospital found a donor match.
The father-of-seven told CNN This Morning that he was both terrified and excited upon receiving the news:
“It was terrifying news to hear that I was going to get a transplant, to be honest with you. I was terrified. And then I was excited... I moved on from scary to excited to the possibility of getting 10, 20 years, maybe even 30 years.”
Shortly after, Patrick Holland and his brother rushed to the airport to catch the first flight to Seattle from Alaska. Unfortunately, the flight was later canceled due to the ongoing winter storm.
Reports suggest that the Alaskan father has decided to temporarily live in Seattle while awaiting a second chance at transplant. His relative also launched a GoFundMe to raise funds for Patrick Holland amid the difficult situation. The fundraiser has garnered over $7,500 at the time of writing.
Alaska Airlines "jumped through hoops" to help Patrick Holland reach Seattle
Although airline workers helped Holland with a spot on another plane due to his emergency, even that flight was rerouted to Anchorage midway due to the weather. Holland said he only realized the route change after landing in Anchorage and started to panic:
“I started to panic and my worst fears were overwhelming me. Because when you hear that, you’re like, there’s somebody donating a heart and I don’t imagine they can wait that long. Because the longer it waits, the longer the tissue decomposes.”
Patrick Holland confirmed that Alaska Airlines “jumped through hoops” to help him reach Seattle, but multiple subsequent flights were canceled due to the weather conditions.
He said that he told his brother that he knew he “lost” the chance. Moments later, the transplant coordinator called Holland and said that “they were going to give the heart to somebody else.”
Holland also spoke to King 5 about his response to the cancelation and said:
“I think I cried more that day than I have in my life, and exerted every emotion that I've never had. To get out of that funk, I immediately said, ‘Thank God, there's going to be a family that is saving someone's dad, saving someone's brother, saving someone's, someone's uncle, you know.’”
A look into Patrick Holland’s GoFundMe fundraiser
A GoFundMe page to help Patrick Holland while he waits for his chance at a heart transplant in Seattle has raised more than $7,500.
As Holland’s missed heart transplant made news this week, a relative launched a fundraiser to help his uncle, who is the sole source of income for the family. The GoFundMe page description reads as:
“My uncle’s name is Patrick Holland. He has been sick for a while now. He needs a heart transplant. He is the sole income for his family.”
The page also mentions that Patrick Holland lives in Fairbanks, Alaska, but needs to stay in Seattle to remain closer to the hospital so that he can reach the centre within 8 hours once he gets another call for a second chance at his transplant.
However, staying in Seattle would be financially difficult for Holland and his family as they would have to pay for a hotel as well as bills at home. The organizer wrote:
“He has no idea I’m wanting to help anyway I can. ‘He might get mad at me.’ If you knew him you would understand why I’m doing this. He is the most kind hearted person you could ever meet.”
In a new update, the organizer mentioned that Holland has found a place “he feels fit him on staying in Seattle.” The former also thanked the donors for their financial support and said that the fundraiser would help Holland and his family:
“I want to tell everyone that has reached out to me about have a spare room. Thank you so very much and everything you guys have helped raise up to help him and his beautiful family will go to his bills in North Pole AK.”
William also mentioned Holland missed the first opportunity at transplant due to the winter storm but will not miss another once he gets the chance:
“He already missed one opportunity because of the winter storm but he won’t miss another. He has family and now more friends than he or I would ever think behind his back. Thank you guys so very much. God bless”
Patrick Holland told CNN that he experienced a heart attack at 29 and continued to have several cardiac complications since the first arrest. He said that his condition has impacted the way he interacts with his seven children, whose ages range from 36 to three years old:
“Each phase takes a lot from you. Now I can’t chase them around for more than 30 seconds, and then my heart starts pounding like it’s coming out of my chest. And then if I keep going, I’ll get shocked by my defibrillator.”
Despite the difficulties, Holland remains hopeful while waiting to receive the next call for his transplant.
