A genetic heart condition kept David Wiebe, 58,  from going all out to enjoy life. He began experiencing the symptoms of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy when he was just 19 years old.  He could not walk long distances without shortness of breath and spent much of his adult life in and out of hospitals. Thanks to the transplant team at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center and his organ donor, David has a new heart and feels like a new man.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is one of the most common inherited cardiac disorders that affects the heart muscle. According to Ajith P. Nair, MD, FACC, FAH, associate professor of cardiology at Baylor College of Medicine, it can cause an excessively thick ventricle making it difficult for the heart to pump or eject blood. It can cause various arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation and   ventricular tachycardia, and it can lead to heart failure.

David, an Austin realtor, underwent numerous procedures to help him catch his breath and control arrhythmias. By his own count, he underwent electric cardioversion more than 20 times in an effort to shock his heart into rhythm and underwent numerous other procedures to control his irregular heartbeat. “I could never walk 500 feet or so without being winded, was unable to do any strenuous activities.  I was always out of breath.”

The simple act of screwing in a bolt on a toilet triggered another trip to the ER. David could not catch his breath and his condition had worsened. His doctors in Austin diagnosed end-stage heart failure. David needed a transplant to survive. Because of uncontrollable pulmonary hypertension, his medical team referred him to Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center in Houston, which specializes in high-risk heart transplants.

David was flown by helicopter to the care of the cardiac transplant team which immediately started treating the problem in his lungs. “The backflow of blood from the heart led to high pressures in the arteries of his lungs,” Dr. Nair explained. “We put him on several medications to lower the pressures to get him to the point of meeting heart transplant criteria.”

The Baylor St. Luke’s cardiac transplant team led by Alexis Edward Shafii, M.D., FACS, implanted a new heart in June 2022.

“When I woke up, I could feel the difference,” he recalls. “I felt warm because for the first time in a very long time, I had blood flow. I had to build up my strength but I could walk without getting winded. It immediately changed my life.”

David started walking in the hospital, gradually increasing to a mile daily. “Then I started doing two miles, and now I walk up to five to seven miles every single day.”

David regularly shares his experience with other transplant patients as a volunteer at the hospital. David drives over 400 miles roundtrip to make rounds with St. Luke’s chaplains as part of Heart Exchange, a nonprofit that offers emotional support to transplant patients waiting for their organs to become available. “The entire transplant process is very humbling, and we visit with patients to help them through the most stressful times,” he said.

David wrote the family of his donor to express his eternal gratitude. “If it wasn't for him, I would not be here today, walking every day and learning to live a full life again. It has been 15 months since my precious gift, and I'm guessing he may have walked a lot as his heart is strong and pushes me every day,” he wrote.

David cannot emphasize enough that organ donors provide a second chance to live and experience things they otherwise could not. “You notice everything after a transplant, especially when you're outside and walking and things. You can't imagine the impact it has on a donor recipient. It's huge.”

Just over a year after his heart transplant, David was strong enough to walk in the LifeGift 2nd Chance Run in Houston. He dedicated his 5K walk to his donor. “He is my hero and always will be.”

Dr. Nair explained that David’s recovery would not have been so seamless ten years ago. “We use a team approach and technology now that can help reverse pulmonary hypertension enough to allow a patient to undergo transplant. Thanks to these advances, David’s prognosis is excellent.”