Veteran who served 21 years with US Army celebrates nearly 1 year since successful heart transplant

CHICAGO (WLS) -- It was nearly one year ago on New Year's Eve when then 65-year-old Army Veteran Louis Smith walked down a hallway at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, on his way to get a new heart.

"I really want to thank you from the bottom of my heart," Smith told his doctors.

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At his home in Country Club Hills on Monday, Smith showed off his bare chest, the scar barely visible.

"The surgeon asked me, 'What can I do for you?' I said, 'I'm not afraid to die, but if you can save this tattoo. This is me and my father's tattoo. It's got a lot of meaning,'" Smith said.

Smith served 21 years in the U.S Army after enlisting when he was just 17. He was deployed to the Middle East during both Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom. His illness, the product of a genetic mutation, was just one more challenge to overcome.

"I was a soldier. Not afraid to die. Because that's the job, right? So why worry about things that you can't control, right?" Smith said.

Dr. Benjamin Bruner successfully carried out the high-priority surgery.

But it was his cardiologist, Sarah Chuzi, who, as part of a partnership Northwestern Medicine has with the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, first noticed Smith's condition had progressed to a now-or-never situation.

"I went to visit him in the hospital, and I noticed he was short of breath just walking from his bed to the bathroom," Chuzi said.

For Smith, the new heart is an opportunity to watch his six grandchildren grow up, and he admits it has changed him.

"It's making me want to do better, want to help more people," Smith said.

Smith will have to go back to Northwestern in early January for his one-year checkup. If all goes well, he may even be able to go back to doing his yearly motorcycle trips with his Army buddies.