On St. Patrick’s Day 2019, David Lankford was in a motorcycle accident that changed the course of his life. The accident shattered Lankford’s leg from the knee down and required 15 surgeries, leaving him bedridden for 18 months. Lankford, who stands 6-foot-6, says his weight typically fluctuated between 420 and 450 pounds. “After the accident, I wasn’t able to do anything for myself,” he says, which led his weight to peak at 648 pounds. Lankford developed lymphedema, which caused swelling and a buildup of lymph fluid in his leg. “Doctors were telling me that I wouldn’t be here in a few years, and it scared me,” Lankford says. In 2021, Lankford underwent gastric bypass surgery, as well as treatment at Mercy Hyperbaric and Wound Care–Southfork. Today, he is 400 pounds lighter than his heaviest weight. “It’s a night-and-day difference,” he says. “I can get around easier, and people treat you differently.” A healthier lifestyle has opened up a new world for Lankford, who now goes to sporting events, concerts, and restaurants. “I tell everybody that if I can do it, anyone else can do it,” Lankford says. “When I started going to the gym, I had a walker and didn’t fit into any of the machines. It doesn’t matter if you run, walk, or crawl—as long as you keep pushing yourself forward.”
“When I look back at pictures and find paperwork, it seems like a whole different life that’s not even real anymore,” Sarah Hernandez says as her daughter, 9-month-old Eden, coos in the background. Hernandez gushes about Eden hitting all of her milestones. Just a few months earlier, however, they weren’t sure if they’d have these moments. When Eden was around 2 months old, Hernandez and her husband, Kevin, noticed that Eden wasn’t gaining weight. They took her to the pediatrician, who did some blood tests, then referred the family to St. Louis Children’s Hospital. Eden was diagnosed with biliary atresia, a rare disease that affects one in 8,000 babies; without treatment, infants often experience liver failure within a year. After Eden had her first surgery, a Kasai procedure, “a transplant was the next step.” The parents knew they didn’t have a lot of time, so Hernandez posted about their situation on Facebook and watched as the number of shares went up. That’s when they received an unexpected message from a cousin in New Jersey who stepped forward. Months after the transplant, Eden is a happy, healthy baby. “It’s remarkable how finding a piece of liver just completely changed her, not just physically, but she’s happier now,” Hernandez says. “We finally get to know who she is, without the illness.”
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Susan Burkhart was given a second chance at life—at least, that’s how she sees it.
In 1981, when Burkhart was 33 years old, she went into cardiac arrest while visiting her parents. She didn’t know what was happening and thought she probably had the flu. She was flown to SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital, where she learned that she had cardiomyopathy, a disease that attacks the heart muscle until it no longer functions. “My heart was large and deteriorating,” she says.
Burkhart spent much of 1982 in and out of hospitals. “I couldn’t do anything,” she recalls. For someone who likes to be active, these were long and agonizing months. In January 1983, she learned that she needed a heart transplant. She was added to the organ list on January 14 and, three days later, Burkhart received a new heart.
Today, more than four decades after the procedure, Burkhart is likely the longest-surviving heart transplant recipient. “It really is remarkable that Susan has survived so long with the same heart and is as healthy as she is,” says Dr. Deana Mikhalkova, a SLUCare cardiologist at SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital and one of Burkhart’s doctors. “She always has this attitude of being given a second chance and making the most of it. She recognizes the uniqueness of this transplant and how long she has lived.”
Today, Burkhart tries to embrace each day. When it’s warm, she likes to walk outside or catch a game. When it’s cold, she reads or does art projects. “I don’t sit around watching TV,” she says. “I like to keep busy.”
