PINE BLUFF — Conway Police Officer Will McGary died Feb. 1, 2013; two days later, he saved Charles Connor’s life.
The 63-year-old Pine Bluff man had congestive heart failure when he received McGary’s 26-year-old heart.
“I’m good wholly because of William McGary,” Connor said.
Connor had heart function of 10 percent and went on the heart-transplant list Feb. 1, the day McGary died of his injuries. The Searcy native was directing traffic at an intersection on Jan. 31, 2013, in Conway when he was hit by an impaired driver.
Connor said he went into surgery Feb. 2, 2013, at Baptist Medical Center in Little Rock and came out of the operation on Feb. 3.
“I feel alive; I had no quality of life till that surgery,” Connor said. “Everything that was wrong with me was gone overnight,” including renal failure.
He wrote a letter to McGary’s parents, Tonya and Harold McGary of Searcy, a year after his surgery, asking to meet them. They met for the first time in Little Rock in 2014. Conway police officers were there, as well.
“I did well with momma and the policeman, but with Grandma, she wanted to lay her head on there [his chest], and that was the most emotional part,” Connor said.
Connor said he has twice attended the annual Officer Will McGary Memorial Car Show in Searcy, the biggest fundraiser for the memorial foundation. It previously was held at Valley Baptist Church, where the McGarys are members and Will grew up.
This year’s car show is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 28 at a different venue, on Spring and Pleasure streets during Searcy’s Get Down Downtown festival.
“He liked trucks, and he liked to race,” Tonya said.
Connor said he hopes to make it to this year’s car show, too.
Tonya said her son donated his heart and kidneys, and she knows all three donors.
“We are very blessed — fewer than 10 percent of organ donors know who their recipients are,” Tonya said. “Will had a huge heart, so to be able to be on the church grounds where Will gave his heart to the Lord and for his recipient to be there, yeah, has really touched our hearts. Hearing his [Will’s] heart for the first time was amazing.”
Connor, a father of four grown children, said it is emotional every time he meets the McGary family, no matter how much time passes.
“You can’t take anything like that for granted, ever. That was a gift from God,” Connor said.
A retired lineman for Entergy, said he was in the Dallas airport a couple of weeks ago on his way to Kansas City to the retirement party of a friend who also was a lineman.
A woman in line behind him happened to be talking about someone who had undergone a heart transplant. Connor told her that he also was a heart recipient.
Then, a woman standing in front of Connor asked when and where he had his transplant. He told her, and she immediately said: “William McGary.”
The woman, Marta Davis, is a
cardiothoracic surgical first assistant. She assisted in his transplant surgery.
“It was a beautiful heart. I will never forget the feeling when I held it,” she said.Connor was stunned. “Wow. It was like, ‘How did this happen?’ She said she’d never met one of her transplant recipients,” Connor said. He said he, Davis and her husband went to breakfast to talk.
Tonya said she often hears stories about her son. “I’m telling you, Will’s legacy is unbelievable and how it spreads. Every week, someone says something about Will,” she said.
Connor said he went for a six-month checkup recently with his cardiologist, who said Connor’s heart is still doing great.
“He said, ‘It’s running like a Ferrari,’” Connor said with a laugh.
Tonya said her son would appreciate that description.
Connor said he has become friends with the McGary family and connects with them on Facebook. He said Tonya wishes him a happy birthday every January and sees photos of his grandchildren.
“They are the sweetest people; they really are,” Connor said.
It’s a good life, Connor said, and one he owes to a young man whose heart he’ll carry forever.
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.