When the heart can’t keep up

Healthy Living
• 23 February 2026

A local man’s journey through AFib and heart failure

Gary Parsons didn’t feel sick. He just felt worn out.

The fatigue came slowly. Then the shortness of breath. Over time, everyday tasks became harder, even though he stayed active and busy. What Parsons didn’t know was that his heart rhythm condition was quietly causing serious damage.

For years, Parsons lived with atrial fibrillation, also called AFib, a common heart rhythm problem that can become dangerous if left untreated.

Parsons’ heart journey began in 2010 when he was diagnosed with AFib. At the time, he was active, preaching several times a week and traveling often with his wife, Bonita, for ministry work.

“I just didn’t have any energy,” Parsons said. “I was short of breath and felt foggy. I didn’t feel sick—I just felt worn out.”

Over the next decade, Parsons underwent three cardiac ablations and extensive treatment, including a nine-hour procedure at the Cleveland Heart Institute. His cardiologist, Dr. John Best at the CMH Heart Institute Clinic, managed Parsons’ care for years, adjusting treatment whenever symptoms returned.

In late 2024, Parsons’ condition declined. He had no strength, struggled to breathe and couldn’t lie flat to sleep.

When Parsons went in expecting another treatment adjustment, Dr. Best delivered difficult but lifesaving news.

“He told me, ‘Gary, I’ve taken you as far as I can take you. You either need a heart transplant or you need to go home and get your house in order,’” Parsons said. “That honesty saved my life.”

Dr. Best referred Parsons to Barnes-Jewish Hospital, and soon Parsons was on his way to St. Louis.

Parsons was admitted on Dec. 16, 2024, at age 73, turning 74 while hospitalized. Initially, he was told he was too old for a heart transplant and was encouraged to consider a mechanical heart device instead.

Parsons pushed back.

“I told them, ‘Look at this body. This body is perfect. Everything works in this body. I just blew an engine,’” Parsons said.

Two surgeons who saw Parsons that day agreed, and they fought for him before the 12-member transplant approval board. While waiting, Parsons was kept alive on a portable external heart machine and instructed to walk as much as possible. He walked daily, determined to show he could handle a transplant.

After two donor matches fell through, Parsons finally received the call on Feb. 1, 2025.

Parsons’ heart transplant was completed in the early hours of Feb. 2, 2025, using a 55-year-old donor heart.

Recovery was difficult. Parsons faced setbacks, exhaustion and moments when he wanted to give up. Nurses and physicians encouraged him through every low point. By mid-February, Parsons turned a corner. He was recovering faster than expected and was discharged less than a month after his heart transplant.

Now 75, Parsons says he feels better than he has in years. Parsons is alive today because someone checked “yes” to organ donation.

“Because he said he would be a donor, he gave me his heart when he lost his life,” Parsons said. “Now I am strong. I think about that a lot.”

Before his transplant, Parsons was not registered as a donor, but now, he too has checked “yes.”

Parsons also gives credit to Dr. Best, whose honesty and decisiveness set everything in motion, and to the transplant team at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, who fought for him despite his age.

“If Dr. Best hadn’t told me the truth that day, I wouldn’t be here.”

Learn more about becoming an organ, eye and tissue donor.