PHOENIX — At first, Colin Judd thought he was getting over a cold when he had trouble breathing. Weeks went by and he wasn't getting any better.
"It progressed to the point where I couldn't walk more than just a few feet without being out of breath," Judd said.
Judd found himself, eventually, at Banner University Medical Center in Phoenix.And eventually, he became 100 successful heart transplant surgeries done in the past three years at University Medical Center. A spokesperson said it is the only hospital in the state with a comprehensive heart failure center.
But it took him a while to get there.
The 53-year-old quit his job as a light rail operator because of it. He then decided it was time to go to the emergency room.
Judd thought he would be in and out of the hospital. He believed the answer to his problem would be an inhaler or medication. He was wrong.
Doctors diagnosed Judd with congestive heart failure and said if he had waited any longer, he may have died.
"I can't imagine what the look on my face must have been like," He said. "It's like your whole world crashing around you. You find out you're about to die."
The Avondale man was immediately admitted to the hospital and soon transferred to Banner University Medical Center in Phoenix where he stayed for more than two months. He was waiting for a new heart but knew it could be a long time before it happened.
Doctor Francisco Arabia, the physician executive for the Advanced Heart Failure Program, said every year about 6,500 people are on the waiting list for a new heart. However, only 3,000 receive the live saving organ they need.
Not knowing if he would ever be able to leave the hospital, Judd waited. Then he finally got the call he and so many others wait for. He would have surgery the very next day because a heart had came in from a donor.
"It was like, 'Oh, wow!' I was scared and excited at the same time," Judd said.
After about a four hour surgery, the heart was successfully transplanted and for the first time in months, Judd was able to go home with his family.
"I'm getting stronger every day and I actually get a little stir crazy sitting at home," he said.
As grateful as he is to the doctors who performed the live-saving surgery, he is also thankful to the person who donated the heart. He wishes he could tell their family how much it means to him and his.
"I would certainly tell them 'thank you. Thank you for the gift of life,'" Judd said.