MYAKKA CITY – Angela Horan and Gary Bergstrom may look like just any other healthy couple, but their story is anything but ordinary.
“December 2013 I was sick,” Horan said.
Doctors told her it was pneumonia, but she just kept getting worse, seeing doctor after doctor, until one realized her heart was enlarged.
“They told me within a year, I’d be looking at a heart transplant,” Horan said.
It was congestive heart failure. Doctors concluded whether it was actually pneumonia or something else, Horan’s body attacked her heart instead of the virus.
“I had arteries of an 18-year-old, but my heart was of an 80-year-old,” Horan said.
She got on a transplant list and in the meantime, at 36, had an electronic device that was basically pumping her heart for her.
“I felt like there was nothing wrong with me. I felt like I could just go and do whatever,” Horan said.
She even had energy to date and made a profile on Plenty of Fish. That’s where she found Gary.
“She didn’t tell me she was dying,” Bergstrom said. “She kinda left that out. And when we met for the first time, she had that backpack with a battery pack and the cord on her side, and she’s like, ‘Oh yeah, I’m on the heart transplant list.'”
Clearly it didn’t scare Bergstrom away.
“We basically put together a bucket list of things we were gonna do and we have been doing it,” Bergstrom said.
In December 2015, Angela got the call. They found a heart, and it was a match. Five years later to the day, Bergstrom proposed.
“How could I not wanna marry her?” Bergstrom said. “We’ve been through hell and back.”
The wedding’s next month, and Gary’s been working hard to turn their backyard into Angela’s dream venue.
‘A Helping Hand’ surprise from Attorney Carl Reynolds doesn’t hurt either.
“We heard about your story, and what a cool story it is, especially this month, where we’re talking about being kind to your heart and having Heart Health Awareness Month,” Reynolds said. “You guys encapsulate what that story’s about.”
A lot of doors were closed in Horan’s face before she got her diagnosis. But each one led to Gary, and she sure is glad she followed her heart.
“I don’t know where I’d be if I hadn’t,” Horan said.
The couple’s wedding planner Michelle Borrero of Precious Moments Events let us know about the couple’s story. They’re getting married March 20.
