Patrick Holland was happy that someone else received the life-saving organ.
The travel chaos in the United States caused by 'blizzard of the century' cost a man a chance at heart transplant. Patrick Holland was prevented from flying due to the extreme weather condition that had severely affected the visibility, according to a report in CNN. The 56-year-old from Fairbanks in Alaska was given an eight-hour window to fly to Seattle for the procedure so he booked the flight and rushed to the airport. But when he reached there, Mr Holland was told the flight was cancelled.
"It was terrifying news to hear that I was going to get a transplant, to be honest with you. I was terrified. And then I was excited," Mr Holland told CNN.
He received the call about the transplant surgery on December 22 from University of Washington Medical Centre. But unfortunately, he couldn't take the flight.
The airport staff helped the man by getting him on the next flight, but that was rerouted to Anchorage mid-flight due to ice closing the runway in Seattle.
"I started to panic, and my worst fears were overwhelming me. Because when you hear that, you're like, there's somebody donating a heart and I don't imagine they can wait that long. Because the longer it waits, the longer the tissue decomposes," he further told the outlet.
And Mr Holland's worst fear came true when he got a call from the hospital saying they were giving the heart to someone else.
"Alaska Airlines jumped through hoops to get me there. But multiple subsequent flights were also cancelled, and I told my brother 'I know I've lost it, I know I have'," said the 56-year-old.
Mr Holland was excited to be on the transplant list. He had experienced a massive heart attack at the age of 29 and a number of heart-related complications since then.
But Mr Holland said he was glad another person received that life-saving organ.