Texas father walks daughter down the aisle after double organ transplant
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A Texas father was on a mission to make sure he was alive and well to walk his daughter down the aisle.
Ted Adderly said at the age of 65, he was prepared to die.
"My concern at that time was the effect that it would have to my children," said Adderly. "Not just for me. At that time, I was 65. I had lived a pretty wonderful life."
Due to heart and kidney complications, he was prepared to miss his only daughter's wedding. So when his doctor told him he wouldn't live much longer, he said he wasn't upset.
"He came into my room and said my situation was grave and that I had about 30 minutes to live," Adderly recalled. "Twenty-one minutes later, I got a call from the transplant team that they had found me a heart."
After getting a new heart and kidney at Memorial Hermann - Texas Medical Center, Adderly was discharged just in time to walk his daughter, named Teddi, down the aisle.
"I tell people all the time I am presently living on the other side of heaven," said the emotional father. "Heaven was when I woke up, the other side was when I walked out."
Adderly said prior to sharing this moment with his daughter, he was never one to show his emotions.
"I used to be hardcore, I wouldn't even cry at funerals," said Adderly. "Now, I cry at weddings, tea parties, Bar Mitzvahs, you name it. If they're going to give me the opportunity to live 30 more years, I need to seize that opportunity. I'll be able to give my granddaughters away now. I'll be able to attend their weddings."
Follow Pooja Lodhia on Facebook and Twitter.
