Hilton Head Monthly Magazine

Transplant recipient George Moody has much to be grateful for.

About one year after the death of their beloved daughter Camden  in a tragic car crash, George and Maury Moody began to receive letters of thanks from the recipients of her donated organs.

At the same time, George was feeling ongoing chest pain. Consoling him, Maury suggested it was his broken heart. Little did they know how right she was. Then, on a church trip to Charleston, Moody experienced tightness in his chest and couldn’t breathe. A trip to the emergency room came with a diagnosis of congestive heart failure, an enlarged heart and arrhythmia, or irregular heartbeat. Back at home, Moody consulted a cardiologist, Dr. Calvin Sharp, who determined that Moody’s arrhythmia was so bad he needed a defibrillator implant. He told Moody his heart would never get better.

Years later, when Moody fainted at work in August 2008, the defibrillator went off 17 times, restarting his heart each time.

He ended  up  in the emergency room  at Hilton Head Regional Healthcare. Dr. Sharp examined him and had him flown immediately to the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. Moody underwent a three-day evaluation for a heart transplant and then was put on the waiting list.

He was told it could be 12 months before he got a heart. He was sent home to wait.

Two months later, on Oct. 30, Moody’s phone rang at 2 a.m. MUSC had a heart.

“Overall, I think I felt pretty calm because I knew this was God’s will,” Moody said.

Tey arrived in Charleston at 4 a.m. and Moody was prepped, had the surgery, and was awake by 7 p.m. “I woke up and thanked God,” he said. “I felt great! I was thankful and blessed.”

He was released from the hospital and came home the week before Christmas. Friends had heard he was coming and decorated his house and a Christmas tree.

“It was wonderful to be home,” he said. “It was the greatest gift ever.”

Moody considers his transplant a miracle. Not only was the donor heart a perfect match, but it was available 10 months sooner than he had hoped.

“More than a miracle, though, it was answered prayer,” he said.

Someday, perhaps in about a year, he will write a thank you letter and try to contact the donor’s family. He knows his heart came from a 48-year-old woman from Columbia. Te bittersweet irony for George and Maury is not lost: One thank you letter they received eight years ago came from the 43-year-old mother who had received Camden’s heart.

American Heart Association: Facts & Fundraising

According to the American Heart Association, every 36 seconds someone dies of cardiovascular disease. Every 45 seconds, someone sufers a stroke. Te local chapter of the American Heart Association will host its annual Heart Ball fund-raiser at 6 p.m. Feb. 7 at the Crowne Plaza Resort in Shipyard on Hilton Head Island.

Te black-tie-optional event will feature a four-course Lowcountry dinner, with musical entertainment by the B’Town Playaz. An auction will include a sailing regatta, diamond jewelry, and a dinner party for 10.

Chairpersons for the evening are Mr. and Mrs. Weston Newton, with vice chairs Mr. and Mrs. W. Lawson Lowrey and Dr. and Mrs. Calvin Sharp. For more information, call Judy Caramello at (843) 681-2355.

2009 HEART BALL