FEATURES | second chance at life
W ILD AT H EART
Transplant gives Hattiesburg woman
second chance at life
TEXT BY LAYLA ESSARY
A About four times a week,
Toni Wild takes a short drive
from her Oak Grove home to a
Hattiesburg gym. Within min-
utes she settles into the familiar
surroundings of the weight
room, followed by a brisk jog
on the treadmill. With each
new day she is able to add a lit-
tle more distance and a bit
more time to her training rou-
tine.
Wild has her sights set on
running a race in October. If it
weren’t for the blue mask
secured around her nose and
mouth and a scar on her chest,
there are few signs that beating
inside her chest is a heart that
she received just a few short
months ago.
“I was sitting in the hospital
when we heard words that
were so hard to hear. No one
dreams they are going to have
to have a heart transplant.”
Those unimaginable words
by her doctor this year is yet
another chapter in Toni Wild’s
incredible journey of determi-
nation and endurance.
After surviving cancer in
1992, she once again had to bat-
tle the disease in 1998. That
round of chemotherapy did
irreparable harm to her heart;
26 a cc e n t s o u t h m i s s i s s i p p i
she was diagnosed with con-
gestive heart failure and spent
the next decade of her life man-
aging the condition with med-
ications and a fierce adherence
to doctor’s orders.
“I was able to live a full life
all these years, but I noticed I
wasn’t feeling well back in
April,” said Wild, dismissing
the malaise as a common cold.
“I went to the cardiologist and
we tweaked the medicine some.
But I could tell I was getting
very winded walking even
short distances. Something told
me it was heart related.”
Her hunch proved to be cor-
rect. In May, Wild was referred
back to Ochsner Medical Center
in New Orleans, where she had
been treated years before. After
extensive tests, the medical
team came to one conclusion.
“They told me at this point
that all they could see as an
option was a heart transplant,”
said Wild, reflecting on the
impact of those words. “It just
made us take a step back and
start asking whether this was
God’s plan for us.”
For Toni, stepping back
stirred up recollections of a
very different type of heart
transplant decision twelve
years ago.
In 1997, Toni’s first husband,
Tom Shoemaker, was tragically
killed in a car accident. In the
thick cloud of grief, Toni took
decisive actions to donate a
number of his organs to others
in need - organs that included
his heart.
“At the time of Tom’s acci-
dent I took great comfort in the
midst of my grief knowing that
my loss could somehow
enhance someone else’s life.
Years later I found myself in
the hospital, realizing that I
needed a heart. Just years
prior I had given one away.”
POSITIVE ATTITUDE In 1999,
the two-time cancer survivor
met her future husband, Jim
Wild.
“Of course, I didn’t know her
when she went through those
previous adversities, but I
knew that she had this fantastic
‘get on with life’ attitude that
drew me to her,” he said.
“And that’s never been truer
than now.”
In June of 2009, with the
encouragement of her family
and friends, Toni Wild began
exhaustive efforts to be placed
on the national heart transplant
 registry. Each day Toni faced a
litany of tests that had to be
passed before moving on to the
next step in the process.
“I had to take just about
every test imaginable,” said
Wild. “We had to do bone
scans and brain scans to make
sure that there was no sign of
cancer visible. We did vascu-
lar studies and G.I. studies.
Every day it was something
different. Having had cancer,
I waited with bated breath to
get those results, just hoping
everything was clear.”
Jim said that those trying
days not only drew the cou-
ple closer, but they also
formed incredible bonds with
members of the Ochsner’s
staff.
“There were so many peo-
ple there at the hos-
pital that we grew
close to during our
days of waiting,”
said Jim Wild. “We
developed this kind
of synergy with the
hospital staff where
we received hope
and assurance from
them, but I believe
we were able to give
life and encourage-
ment back to them,
as well.”
Critical care nurse
Teresa Green said she instantly
connected with Toni and Jim
during their stay at Ochsner
Medical. “I was truly touched
by their faith in God and in
each other,” said Green.
“Working in a life or death set-
28 a cc e n t s o u t h m i s s i s s i p p i
ting gives me lots of opportuni-
ties to offer hope and support
to patients and families. They
were so receptive and encour-
aging.”
Soon Toni and Jim received
the results.
“Our medical team all came
together with the conclusion
that I was a good candidate,”
said Toni Wild. “Then they
started putting the ball in
motion to place me on the reg-
istry list. Before they would
release me, they had to put me
on a 24/7 heart medication I.V.
That continuous supply of med-
icine is what kept me going.”
The couple came home on
Memorial Day. So much had
happened while they were
away, including their oldest
son’s graduation from high
school earlier that month.
“I had so many plans for his
graduation,” said Wild. “I had
to realize that I was a hundred
miles away and couldn’t take
care of any of it. I had to relin-
quish all of that and let family
and friends step in and put my
plans into action. And that’s
exactly what they did.”
They even provided a live
video feed of the graduation.
“I had the best seat
in the house,”
laughed Toni.
MIXED EMOTIONS
Now back at home,
Toni and Jim Wild
began the waiting
game.
“They told me it
could be months
before I got the call.
They encouraged us
to not give up or lose
hope because the
chances were good,”
said Toni. Factors like her good
health, body size, and antibod-
ies played a role in those favor-
able chances, not to mention
her blood type - B positive.
“Knowing that Toni’s
blood type is B positive
seemed fitting to us, because
of her positive attitude and
perseverance,” said Jim Wild.
“That resiliency resonated with
the staff at Ochsner’s. And
knowing that she had been in
the giving role years before
touched them.”
Toni spent the next week
getting back into the routine of
home life, managing schedules,
cooking, and running an occa-
sional errand. Toni said the
medications made her day-to-
day life tolerable.
Content with the realization
that they would probably have
to wait for months, a phone
call at 11:49 in the evening on
June 1 changed all that.
“It was Ochsner’s calling.
Jim answered and handed me
the phone. The lady on the
phone said, ‘Toni, we have a
possible heart for you. Pack
your bags and get here quick-
ly. When she said those words
to me, you can’t imagine the
flood of emotions that I experi-
enced at that moment. I felt the
blood rush from my head to
my feet.”
Toni said the bevy of mixed
emotions came from knowing
exactly what the donor family
was experiencing. “It’s an
experience you have to live
through to understand. I knew
this family was agreeing to the
most selfless act they could do
for someone else. It was truly a
bittersweet moment.”
So after only a week at
home, the Wilds said their
goodbyes to family, packed up
quickly, and headed down to
New Orleans.
After checking into the ICU,
her doctor greeted her with
words that Toni said she’ll
never forget. “He said, ‘Girl, it
looks like it’s your day.’ I was
overcome with emotion. At
that point, a lot of thoughts
went through my mind.”
Part of Toni’s anxiety
stemmed from witnessing
countless surgeries during her
career as a nurse in an operat-
ing room. “I’ve seen and been
a part of many different types
of surgeries. Perhaps I knew a
little too much about what can
happen. You have to complete-
ly rely on other people to be
your advocate, to do what’s
best for you.”
One of those advocates was
her nurse, Teresa Green.
“My nurse was such a car-
ing, sweet individual. She
went down to surgery with me
and held my hand and right
before they took me through
the double doors she sang the
most beautiful hymn to me
and told me everything would
be OK.”
“It was a beautiful occasion
to participate in that important
day,” Green said. “When you
have to face that kind of val-
ley, in the end, you enter into
surgery alone. It was my joy to
walk part of that road with
her.”
“As you can imagine, I
wasn’t sure how it would turn
out, but I had an inexplicable
sense of peace that everything
would be OK no matter the
outcome,” Toni said.
It took about five hours to
do the heart transplant sur-
gery. The doctors told Jim
Wild that the heart was a per-
fect fit for Toni.
“I feel like my old self
again,” Toni said. “I’ve
already forgotten what it feels
like to have shortness of
breath. I can go all day with-
out taking breaks and naps to
get through the day and take
care of my family.”
In addition to resuming
exercise and her role with fam-
ily and friends, Toni is looking
for opportunities to share her
story, to encourage others, and
to help educate the public
about the issue of organ dona-
tion.
“I believe I’ve been given
another chance at life for a rea-
son and I will never take that
for granted. It’s been a while
since I’ve felt this good, and
now I just hope to get better
and stronger.”
Her goal is to be strong
enough to run in the Susan G.
Komen Race for the Cure this
October.
And while she doesn’t
expect to run at full speed for
the entire distance of the
event, Toni Wild fully intends
to finish the race.
Toni Wild said she hopes to
meet the family of the heart
donor one day. She still keeps
in contact with the recipient
of the heart she donated 12
years ago when her first hus-
band, Tom, died.
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