Man misses heart transplant due to flight disruptions: ‘Cried more that day than...'

Patrick Holland. (Image credit: Facebook)

A man suffering from congestive heart failure missed his long-awaited chance at a transplant because of the massive winter storm in the US.

Patrick Holland, 56, started for Seattle from Fairbanks in Alaska soon after receiving a call on December 22 from the hospital that would perform the procedure.

But his flight was cancelled, Holland's wife wrote on the Facebook page "Patrick's Transplant Journey".

The airline put him and his brother on another flight but even that plane was rerouted to Anchorage, Alaska.

Because Holland could not reach Seattle, someone else got that transplant. A heart can be preserved for four to six hours only.

Holland, a father to seven children, went from being hopeful about a healthier life to absolute dejection.

"Numerous times his hopes were lifted to astounding heights and then left to be tumbled down," his wife wrote on Facebook.

Holland told NBC affiliate King-TV:  “I think I cried more that day than I have in my life and had exerted every emotion that I’d never had."

But he will choose not to give up. Holland is now looking for a place to stay in Seattle so whenever he is called for the transplant next, he can make it in time.

The family doesn't know when the next call will come but they are trying to be more prepared.

“The first (call) one came in two-and-a-half weeks," read a post on Holland's Facebook page. "The next one could come any time, or it could be weeks or months out."

Holland told CNN his family and faith gave him the strength to continue.

“I know in the end where I’m going to be no matter what," he said.

The US has been hit by an unprecedented winter storm, that has killed 61 people so far. Buffalo in New York has been the worst affected.

Fierce winds and heavy snow led to widespread power outages and cancellation of flights amid the holiday season.