One man shares his heart transplant story
Reporter: Becky DeVries | Fox11
SUAMICO - A Suamico man has a new appreciation for the little things, and just about everything, after his health condition dramatically improved.
Talking a walk down the street is something Bill Verdonik couldn't do six months ago.
"The whole journey is a very emotional journey," said Bill. "Each stage there are major issues that you must come to grips with. First one is losing your ability to have a job."
Doctors diagnosed Bill with an enlarged heart nearly 30 years ago. Nine years ago it became severe, he was considered disabled and couldn't work. In February of last year, Bill's condition required a pump to help his heart function.
"I always tell people, everybody faces death, but very few people have their hand on the doorknob and are ready to turn it," said the Suamico man.
Bill joined more than 100,000 people across the country when he was put on the organ donation waiting list. He spent about 10 months waiting until January, when he received a phone call he had hoped and waited for.
"Still get emotional. And he said we have a heart, and if you're ready, we need you down at the hospital," Bill remembers the call.
So Bill went to the UW Hospital in Madison and had a heart transplant.
But others have not been so fortunate. According to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, 18 people throughout the country die each day because of a shortage of organ donations.
Although Bill's wait is over, he knows when his new life started, someone else's ended. That's something he struggled with.
"It took great courage for them to give this gift. People don't realize that what it does for a person who is waiting," said Bill.
Bill will tell anyone who will listen about organ donation. It's his way of honoring his donor, and the donor's family. He wrote his donor's family a letter.
"I thanked them, I said, for giving me a chance to see my grandchildren grow up. To see them graduate. Possibly get married, have their own children. Every Christmas, every birthday, every event, in the back of my mind, I always wondered if it was the last," explained Bill.
Now Bill thinks in the long term and has appreciation for things many take for granted.
"They took my hand and knocked it off the doorknob," Bill says of his donor's family. "And asked me to step back many steps from that doorway. And because of that, I have a new respect for, for life."
Bill says as a recipient he does not ask for someone to become an organ donor, but just to learn about it and discuss it with their family.
Talking a walk down the street is something Bill Verdonik couldn't do six months ago.
"The whole journey is a very emotional journey," said Bill. "Each stage there are major issues that you must come to grips with. First one is losing your ability to have a job."
Doctors diagnosed Bill with an enlarged heart nearly 30 years ago. Nine years ago it became severe, he was considered disabled and couldn't work. In February of last year, Bill's condition required a pump to help his heart function.
"I always tell people, everybody faces death, but very few people have their hand on the doorknob and are ready to turn it," said the Suamico man.
Bill joined more than 100,000 people across the country when he was put on the organ donation waiting list. He spent about 10 months waiting until January, when he received a phone call he had hoped and waited for.
"Still get emotional. And he said we have a heart, and if you're ready, we need you down at the hospital," Bill remembers the call.
So Bill went to the UW Hospital in Madison and had a heart transplant.
But others have not been so fortunate. According to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, 18 people throughout the country die each day because of a shortage of organ donations.
Although Bill's wait is over, he knows when his new life started, someone else's ended. That's something he struggled with.
"It took great courage for them to give this gift. People don't realize that what it does for a person who is waiting," said Bill.
Bill will tell anyone who will listen about organ donation. It's his way of honoring his donor, and the donor's family. He wrote his donor's family a letter.
"I thanked them, I said, for giving me a chance to see my grandchildren grow up. To see them graduate. Possibly get married, have their own children. Every Christmas, every birthday, every event, in the back of my mind, I always wondered if it was the last," explained Bill.
Now Bill thinks in the long term and has appreciation for things many take for granted.
"They took my hand and knocked it off the doorknob," Bill says of his donor's family. "And asked me to step back many steps from that doorway. And because of that, I have a new respect for, for life."
Bill says as a recipient he does not ask for someone to become an organ donor, but just to learn about it and discuss it with their family.
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