A Heartwarming Story of 9-11-01

[wovenwonder]

read on cnn.com -
New heart comes with a miraculous story
Sunday, November 3, 2002 Posted: 10:43 AM EST (1543 GMT)


CHARLESTON, South Carolina (AP) -- Doug "Mackey" Goodwin says there were "a lot of miracles at work" the day he got his new heart.

The 60-year-old former player for the NFL's Buffalo Bills received a transplant at New York Presbyterian Hospital on Sept. 11, 2001, the day terrorists crashed two planes into the World Trade Center.

The small plane carrying a donated heart for Goodwin left Boston just after the hijacked jets, arriving at the hospital in an ambulance allowed to cross the George Washington Bridge just after it had been closed in the wake of the attacks.

"The story of his transplant is truly the story of a miracle," said Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. "It gives one goose bumps every time one hears about it."

Goodwin, who now lives in Freeport, New York, and returned for a visit to his native Charleston on Thursday, agreed.

"There were a lot of miracles at work that day," he said.

Goodwin said the pilot of the small plane that brought the donor heart from Boston told him the hijacked jets taxied and took off from Boston just before his plane.

"The pilot thought it was very weird when they turned toward New York, because they were supposed to be going somewhere else," said Goodwin. "He said it was very strange they came down the Hudson River by the George Washington Bridge."

By the time the small plane with the donor heart arrived in New Jersey, the bridge into the city was already closed.

"One driver was going to get out and walk it (the heart) across the bridge," said Goodwin, who spoke to the ambulance driver later. "He said 'I'm going to walk it across' and they say 'No, no, let them through."'

Goodwin said when he came out of surgery, he saw television coverage of the World Trade Center attacks -- including pictures of victims jumping from the burning towers.

"That's very traumatic," said Goodwin, who said he thought, at first, he was watching a film. He added that his doctors were angry the TV had been left on in his room.

A fund-raiser will be held next week at a Charleston church to help Goodwin defray $300,000 of his medical bills. His medication alone costs $3,000 per month.

The mayor said the city was pleased to have Goodwin back.

"His native city is not going to forget him," Riley said.