Patient Waits Only Three Days From Heart Attack To Transplant

And he’s a very lucky man.

McLean was in mortal danger of dying when he suffered that massive attack last July. Doctors were able to give him a temporary artificial heart, but told him he needed a transplant.

But they also warned him about the odds.

The heart is a rare organ and must match the donor or leave open the danger of rejection. Most people are forced to wait in a kind of medical limbo for 12 to 18 months before a new ticker becomes available.

And for some patients, that’s too long.

But McLean wasn’t like the rest. He got his new heart in record time – waiting just three short days.

“If I didn’t receive it, I would be dead,” he relates. “I had a massive heart attack. I would’ve been dead.”

Now just a short time after his surgery, McLean is regaining his health and is ready to leave Toronto General Hospital for a place he wasn’t sure he’d ever see again – his home.

“Having him home for Christmas. It’s a lot, seeing how he was in the hospital, and seeing him develop,” reveals his nephew Andrew.

The hospital agrees the speed with which McLean received the new organ is unusual, but they note William was the perfect candidate and that the heart that became available was a perfect match.

The recipient is astounded at the generosity of the donor and the family who made the incredible sacrifice. And he thanks them from the bottom of his new heart.

“I feel grateful to the person who gave me the new heart,” he agrees. “I knew where it came from. It came from out west.”

Now McLean must get used to being healthy again. “Feels kind of funny leaving the hospital after five months, especially with the people who have been here. The nurses, the doctors who have been really great. And I’m really grateful to them and I’m really thankful to them.”

And he knows he’s already had the best Christmas present ever.

“You get a second chance at life,” he marvels. “It’s been excellent.”

He asking people to sign the donor cards that came with their license, so that future patients won’t have to endure the agonizing and death defying wait. To find out more about organ donation, click here.