A dad from Alaska lost out on a life-saving transplant when his Alaska Airlines flight was postponed because of the unprecedented winter storm in the United States.
Patrick Holland, who suffers from congestive heart failure, was called on December 22 by the University of Washington Medical Center, who informed him that he was the next in line for a heart transplant.
The 56-year-old was given an 8-hour window to fly to Seattle for the heart transplant before flying to the Fairbanks, Alaska airport for an overnight journey.
When he arrived at the airport, though, it was reported that his flight had been canceled due to weather. The crew at Alaska Airlines attempted to get him on the following aircraft, but it had to be diverted. Sadly for Holland, this meant that he would miss the 8-hour window and the heart would be donated to somebody else.
Holland expressed that he thought he sobbed more that day than he ever had before, and he felt every emotion he’d never felt before. To get out of that mood, he instantly thought, ‘Thank God, there’s going to be a family that is rescuing someone’s father, saving someone’s brother, saving someone’s, saving someone’s uncle, you know.’
Holland says he’ll stay in Seattle for a while in the hopes that another heart will become available, one that would allow him to keep up with his wife of 17 years and his seven children.
