Baptist Memphis recently celebrated three former heart transplant patients with flag ceremonies—a tradition established by the Mid-South Transplant Foundation.
Anthony Lewis is 46 years old and has a wonderful, fun loving personality. He is a born and raised Memphian with one daughter who, until his health began to fail, worked in facility maintenance. He became very sick and was admitted to Baptist on June 10, 2015. He was added to Baptist Memphis’ heart transplant waiting list two weeks later. Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait too long and was given a new heart on July 27, 2015. Since the transplant, he is doing very well and has even returned to work part time.
Lois Braden is a spunky 69-year-old Memphian. She and her husband of 17 years have three children. Lois worked as a home health patient care assistant for many years; nine of those were for the same family. Her health began to fail in 2011, and she was implanted with a Heartmate II left ventricular assist device in November 2014. She was added to Baptist Memphis’ transplant waiting list on June 26, 2015, and her new heart was transplanted on Aug. 22, 2015. Lois participated in two 5Ks with the LVAD device and walked in the 2015 St. Jude 5K, after her heart transplant.
David Cullen is an outgoing 61-year-old auto service technician from Louisiana. He has been married for 37 years and has two children and five grandchildren. His hobbies include working on automobiles and train sets. He had been on the New Orleans-based Ochsner Cardiomyopathy and Heart Transplant Program waiting list for two years when his wife accepted a teaching position in Memphis. After moving, David was evaluated and added to the Baptist Heart Transplant waiting list on March 20, 2015. His health was failing, and he was admitted to Baptist Memphis three weeks later. He received his new heart on June 12, 2015, and has been doing great ever since.