By Kate Linderman
The Bradenton Herald
PORTLAND, N.Y. — A couple embarked on an approximately 260-mile drive just as a snowstorm struck over Thanksgiving weekend, New York State Police said, but their journey wasn’t holiday-related.
The pair from Rochester was en route to the Cleveland Clinic for the 64-year-old woman’s life-saving heart transplant, state troopers said.
The snow fell heavy on Nov. 29, creating dangerous conditions for driving, as they reached Portland, New York, which is about halfway to Cleveland. The couple could no longer drive in the storm, leaving them stranded, troopers said.
“The 64-year-old had a battery-powered heart pump and before the situation became critical the husband made contact with a nurse from Cleveland Clinic,” state police said in a Dec. 1 news release.
That nurse called law enforcement, who worked out a plan to get the woman to the hospital in time for her procedure, according to troopers.
First, the couple went to the Portland Fire Department so she could be taken to the Westfield Memorial Hospital nearby. Then, state troopers got her to the Jamestown Airport and flew her to the Cleveland Clinic for the rare procedure.
“It’s heartening to see such dedication to ensuring a patient received a life-saving heart transplant despite the challenges posed by the snowstorm,” troopers said in the news release.
Heart transplants are a rare and risky procedure, according to the Cleveland Clinic . There are more people in need of a transplant than there are donors, and those donors must be a “match” to the receiver, the Cleveland Clinic said.
“That means both people must have a compatible blood type and similar body size,” according to their website. “Without this matching, the recipient’s immune system is more likely to reject the donor’s heart.”
If the transplant is successful, experts say patients can live “for years or even decades” after getting the new organ.
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