Facing a troubling diagnosis of chronic heart failure, Wayne demonstrated incredible strength. His successful heart transplant in Dallas, Texas, (arranged by his doctors and nurses at Advanced Cardiovascular Specialists in Shreveport, Louisiana) led to a speedy recovery. Throughout his entire journey, Wayne never lost his faith.

Wayne, Transplant Patient:
My name is Wayne Richardson. I was raised in Benton, Louisiana. Grew up real good little country lifestyle. Most of my life, I’ve been in truck driving, lugging freight every day, you know, offloading freight. Just wasn’t feeling as energetic as I should. I went to my primary, and he checked me out. He sent me over to ACS, and that’s where I met Dr. Jimmy. That was my cardiologist. Still is my cardiologist over there. Right off the bat, I could tell they were just genuine, you know. They really cared. They didn’t hold anything back. They told me that at that point I was into chronic heart failure.

Jimmy Smith, M.D., Advanced Cardiovascular Specialists:
He was pretty sick, and he didn’t respond well like most patients do that really get better pretty quickly. He progressed pretty quickly.

Wayne:
They really explained it thoroughly just what was happening, why it was happening the way it was and why I was feeling the way that I was feeling.

Jimmy Smith, M.D.:
He was one of those guys that after a few weeks of us doing the usual things and he didn’t really improve and get better, we had to start looking for more advanced options. That’s what led him down the road to getting a transplant.

Wayne:
Once I got over to Baylor and got to seeing Dr. Bindra, I had to go over there back and forth quite a number of times. He had talked with Dr. Jimmy and the other cardiologists here at ACS. He ended up getting me on the transplant list. I stayed on the transplant list for just a little over a month. She called, and she said, ‘You got to have your bags packed because we’re going to need you to be over here.’ A heart transplant: Major, major surgery. I kid you not, five days after my surgery, they were discharging me from Baylor. I mean, I had been up walking around, walking upstairs. That’s how fast I was recovering. That’s why I say, you know, it was a Higher Power in all of this.

Kellie and Elizabeth Willis, RN, APRN, FNP-BC, Heart Failure Clinic Nurse Practitioner:
He knew how sick he was especially toward the end, but his faith was so strong. Even going into the transplant surgery, I mean, he was still praying. He had a peace about it. I think that was pivotal for him throughout the whole journey.

Wayne:
When I first found out about all of this … I really want to live to see my grandkids grow up and be able to run with them and play with them and get back to just a normal life. On the other hand, you know, somebody had to give their life. You know, a life ended, and I don’t take that for granted.

Jimmy Smith, M.D.:
Got a lot of hope, got a lot of outlook, having fun again. You see him with a smile from ear to ear, so that’s really cool. You know, when you don’t have hope, you ain’t got much. We’re only here for a short period of time. We’ve got to make a difference while we’re here, and Wayne’s doing that. He’s doing that.

Wayne:
I love all of my cardiologists, my nurses. I tell all of them, ‘you all are angels. You don’t see your wings behind you, but I see them.’