On a summer evening in the early 1980s, Byron Thompson—a healthy, active man in his 20s—collapsed in a mid-city roller-skating rink. One minute, he was doing jumps and flips, and the next, he couldn’t breathe and lost consciousness.

Thompson had experienced ventricular tachycardia (V-tach) and received a shocking diagnosis: arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC), a genetic heart defect that causes fatty tissue to replace heart muscle, leading to dangerously irregular heartbeats.

Doctors told Thompson they couldn’t cure his condition and that he wouldn’t live past his mid-40s. Over the next few decades, he stayed active and lived as if each day could be his last—until his health deteriorated so dramatically that only a heart transplant could help.

Eventually, in 2024, Cedars-Sinai experts worked closely with Thompson’s advocates to ensure a successful care plan, and they performed a lifesaving operation despite his multiple organ failure and antibodies that required desensitization. Cedars-Sinai, which houses cohesive teams of highly trained experts, is uniquely positioned to treat complex cases like Thompson’s.

Today, Thompson is back to swing dancing up to six days a week and deepening connections to his community.

"He made a miraculous recovery and now has a great quality of life," said David Chang, MD, a cardiologist who treated Thompson.

After his diagnosis, Thompson took his prognosis in stride, continuing to skate, snowboard, ski, water ski and swing dance, even though he experienced V-tach again.

His mid-40s came and went, but eventually, his condition caught up with him. In 2004, Thompson had the first of several strokes that doctors say were likely related to his weakening heart. In 2008, while shelving products at the supermarket where he worked as a clerk, 50-year-old Thompson suffered a major stroke that left him unable to speak, drive or care for himself.

"I thought that was going to be my whole life and I would never get out of that," he said.

After rehabilitation, Thompson regained his ability to communicate and live independently, but he had to give up all his athletic pastimes except swing dancing.

His disease progressed, and by 2007 he developed symptoms of heart failure. Michele Hamilton, MD, a recently retired Cedars-Sinai cardiologist, recommended a heart transplant. But Thompson lacked caregivers able to take on the necessary responsibilities.

By 2019, Thompson was so weak he could barely mow his lawn and could only tolerate 15 seconds on the dance floor. By fall 2023, he was housebound and slept most of the day, and his appetite vanished. Resigned, he called Cathy Reece, his friend of 40 years.

"Take me to the hospital so I can die there,” he told her.

At the Cedars-Sinai Emergency Room, Thompson’s liver and kidneys were failing, and his brain lacked blood flow. Doctors installed a temporary balloon pump, but Thompson wouldn’t make it for long without a transplant. “He was lucky he was alive,” said Fardad Esmailian, MD, who would eventually perform Thompson’s heart transplant. Doctors suggested hospice care.

"He was hopeless and feeling like there was no solution," Reece said.

That’s when Thompson’s community stepped up to help. Longtime friends, neighbors, former colleagues and people he knew from dancing and sports advocated for transplant, emphasized his spirited past to help his providers connect with him, raised money and visited him in the hospital.

His friends Bob and Alicia Humiston agreed to serve as his caregivers after surgery, which aided in his gaining approval for a transplant.

Thompson’s procedure would be complicated by the fact that he had multiple failing organs and a high level of antibodies stemming from past transfusions, which made it harder to find a matching donor.

Cedars-Sinai, home to one of the highest-volume adult heart transplant programs in the country, specializes in transplants for high-risk patients like Thompson.

"We are at the forefront of research and innovation, and the expertise of our surgeons and heart-failure cardiologists is world-renowned," said Esmailian. "We get patients from other parts of the country who are turned down for transplants elsewhere."

Thompson had a successful transplant in February 2024, though his recovery was challenging. Due to kidney failure and bleeding that required a chest tube and transfusion, he spent more than three weeks in intensive care. Cedars-Sinai’s multidisciplinary approach to care—including pulmonologists, intensive care unit staff, nephrologists and many others—ensured not only a successful operation but also coordinated, effective postoperative treatment. 

After two weeks at a rehabilitation facility, Thompson moved in with the Humistons while Reece and other friends oversaw the remodeling of a three-unit building Thompson owns.

Eventually, he was able to return home.

"I can’t thank my community enough," Thompson said. "The generosity they’ve offered me is really deep."

After decades assuming his life would end early, Thompson is now making the most of his newfound health. He swing dances up to six times a week, works on classic cars and is reconnecting with old friends.

"I just appreciate the people around me more, and I feel great," he said.

He’s also giving back. After learning that a couple he knew lost their home in the Los Angeles wildfires in early 2025, he hosted them in the triplex his friends had remodeled.

"It’s so generous—a donor gives a heart to him, and he gives a home to his friends,” said Chang. “I have a lot of admiration for what he’s done with his new life."

For Esmailian, helping patients like Thompson is what gives his work meaning.

"We operate on the sickest of the sick," he said. "Transplantation is the gift of life. It’s extremely rewarding to see somebody who was at the brink of death now with loved ones and enjoying life."