More than three months after Patrick Holland’s first shot at getting a heart transplant was ruined by winter weather that upended his travel and prevented him from getting to the Washington state hospital in time, the Alaska man has been given a second chance. The father of seven is among the thousands of people in the Pacific Northwest whose flights were canceled or redirected in December as severe storms swept through the region.
Her husband is now recovering at the University of Washington Medical Center with a heart transplant from the donor she has dubbed “Andrew.” “Number five – Andrew, as we affectionately call this donor unless we become blessed enough to find out his true name – was the perfect one,” Haley Holland wrote in a Facebook post. In the days since the transplant, Haley Holland has felt and listened to her husband’s new heartbeat.