E.R. Visit Turns into Life-Saving Heart Transplant Within a Month

In July 2023, then-55-year-old Weston resident Patrick Shea landed in the emergency room at Stonewall Jackson Hospital in Weston with chest pain.

When doctors learned the issue was his heart, he was transferred to WVU Medicine United Hospital Center for additional care.

“I just didn’t feel great for a couple days,” said Shea. “Something wasn’t right, and it turned out the heart condition I experienced 13 years before had come back to cause problems.”

More than a decade prior, Shea had stents placed to manage heart damage caused by a chronic, genetic cholesterol issue.

Now, after attempting a heart catheterization at United Hospital Center, Shea was transferred to the WVU Heart and Vascular Institute (HVI) for additional procedures.

HVI care teams performed test after test, attempting to narrow down the best course of action for Shea’s condition. In order to improve his heart’s blood flow, surgeons placed an Impella Support System into the blood vessels in Shea’s leg.

Days later, he developed blood clots in both legs.

In Declining Health, Shea Becomes Heart Transplant Candidate

Shea soon learned he’d need a heart transplant. As he lay waiting for a match, he received an unexpected call from an old friend who’d been through a similar experience just one year earlier. Though it had been a couple years since the friends connected, Shea learned what to expect after the procedure.

Just 15 minutes after that call, a nurse handed Shea a cordless phone with important news on the other end — they’d located a heart and he’d be undergoing transplant in less than 24 hours.

“I couldn’t believe it,” said Shea. “I was excited and really looking forward to getting out and going home.”

WVU Medicine cardiologist George Sokos, DO, explained the procedure. Shea learned a heart-lung bypass machine would keep oxygen-rich blood flowing throughout his body during the transition from one heart to the next, and that recovery could take up to three months post-procedure.

“This transplant was necessary, and I felt ready for the adventure ahead,” said Shea.

“The doctors were great, and the nursing staff was unbelievable,” he says. “The care I received could not be measured, as they treated me as a friend and not as a patient.”

From Transplant Candidate to Heart Recipient in Eight Days

Almost one month since hospital admission and just eight days after being added to the heart waitlist, Shea underwent successful heart transplant surgery.

“I didn’t have any pain or discomfort related to the procedure,” recalls Shea. “The team was always very friendly and reassuring when I needed it.”

Shea remained at HVI under close observation for almost two weeks after his heart transplant. Finally, after more than a month total in the hospital, Shea was cleared to go home.

Other than some residual leg discomfort, Shea is back to normal life and his favorite activities, which includes riding motorcycles.

“I’m able to do everything I was able to do before the surgery,” says Shea. “I even changed oil in my car seven weeks after discharge — don’t tell the doctors!”

Looking back, Shea says the attention and kindness he experienced during his hospital stay meant everything. “The doctors were great, and the nursing staff was unbelievable,” he says.

“The care I received could not be measured, as they treated me as a friend and not as a patient. Staff from other areas of the floor would stop and visit and always have kind things to say as I was doing therapy in the hallways. This really kept my hope and spirits up.”

Learn more about heart transplants at WVU Medicine.