Photo by Emma Delk Heart transplant recipient Marcy Smith, of Barnesville, shares how the procedure changed her life during a local patient testimonial presentation held at WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital on Thursday.

Photo by Emma Delk
Moundsville resident Franklin Heller shares his heart transplant story during a WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital patient testimonial event on Thursday.

WHEELING — Two local heart transplant patients who underwent treatment at WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital shared how the procedure gave them a new lease on life during a presentation held at the hospital on Thursday.

Before attendees heard from patients about how they benefited from local treatment, WVU Department of Cardiology Chair Dr. George Sokos began the presentation by detailing the heart failure services available in the Ohio Valley.

Up until two years ago, Sokos noted that many heart failure patients had to leave the state to receive treatment. As a Wheeling native, Sokos said the lack of heart care services in the area motivated him to work in the state.

“Heart failure is the most common reason to be admitted to the hospital, and it’s really increasing in our area and throughout the U.S.,” Sokos said. “It’s our mission at WVU Medicine to provide more of those services locally.”

In addition to a Heart Failure Clinic with several cardiologists, Sokos said Wheeling Hospital was getting ready to add a full-time heart failure cardiologist to its team. Sokos noted that having a diverse team of cardiologists with different specialties would be able to provide patients with more in-depth heart care services.

Heart failure services include not only heart transplants but also the implantation of left ventricular assist devices, which are mechanical pumps that can pump blood to the rest of the body.

With more than 360 adults and children in the state waiting for an organ transplant, Sokos stressed the importance of patients being evaluated early by primary care physicians or cardiologists if they started to encounter heart failure symptoms. These symptoms can include shortness of breath and swelling in the legs.

Regarding the importance of organ donation, Sokos noted that one organ donor can save the lives of up to eight people and provide healing tissues to as many as 75 others. He added that the patients who would share their stories today were there because of organ donation.

“We feel that it’s extremely important to give that gift of life, and it’s a gift for us to be able to provide that service [heart transplants] in West Virginia,” Sokos said.

Moundsville resident Franklin Heller was the first to share his heart transplant story, undergoing the procedure in May 2021. Before the transplant, Heller shared that his heart had to be restarted by a defibrillator 28 times in a single year.

“I just felt like I was treading water because I wasn’t getting any better,” Heller said.

Heller recounted Sokos “taking the bull by the horns” when Heller told him about his heart problems. Sokos sent Heller to get his heart evaluated in Morgantown. Within 42 days of the evaluation, Heller was able to get on the organ donation list and undergo a heart transplant.

Heller said he was “blessed” to have a good support team at the hospital and in his hometown, with his family and church supporting him through the procedure.

“I thank the staff that I’m so well taken care of,” Heller said. “I’m blessed that I got another chance of life, and to be here with my family today is a true blessing.”

Barnesville resident Marcy Smith was the next patient to share her heart transplant story, undergoing the procedure in July 2022. Smith noted she was able to be at the event today because an anonymous donor and their family chose to turn the “tragic event” of the donor’s death into a blessing for her and “many others.”

Smith said her “badly damaged heart” could not “keep up with” what her mind and body wanted to do. Due to her heart condition, Smith was hospitalized and placed on an organ transplant list. Within less than four hours of being listed, Smith received a heart and was able to undergo the procedure the next day.

“This amazing gift from my donor allows me to spend time with my family, which includes seven grandchildren, one of which was born after my transplant,” Smith said. “Now I’m able to spend quality time with them, chase them around the house, and be their number one cheerleader at all their sporting events. I’d like to thank my donor for giving me such a blessing and a second chance at living.”

David Phillips, WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, also shared an organ donation story that personally impacted him. Phillips told the heart transplant story of Landon Schultheis, the son of a longtime friend whose heart failed when he was 14.

Schultheis initially had a temporary LVAD installed to treat his heart, which was functioning at 15%.

When the temporary LVAD did not work as intended, Schultheis suffered a stroke. A permanent LVAD was then installed, and Schultheis was put on the transplant list.

“Thankfully, their prayers were answered, and on January 21, 2019, Landon got a new heart,” Phillips said. “To see his family go through what they went through or not knowing what the future was going to be was heartbreaking. To see the precious gift of life being given by someone else to Landon to give him a new lease on life was not only inspiring but touching in so many ways.”

Phillips noted that before hearing Schultheis’ story, he viewed organ donation as simply “checking the box” on his license. After witnessing what his friend and son went through, Phillips said he began to have more conversations with his family about organ donation and its long-lasting impact.

“I would encourage all of you to please have those conversations with your family and loved ones if you haven’t already,” Phillips said. “I also encourage everyone to continue to promote organ donation and its benefits for those who are so desperately in need.”