Gatlin Winter was at Vanderbilt Stallworth Rehabilitation Hospital, recovering from a heart transplant when he made an unexpected detour to a different unit — Labor & Delivery at Vanderbilt University Hospital — to witness the birth of his first child.
Gatlin’s wife, Ashlynn, was 37 weeks pregnant. She had been sitting with him in his room at Stallworth, but she herself was not feeling well. She asked a nurse there to take her blood pressure — 154 over 84. She called Vanderbilt University Hospital’s Labor & Delivery and was told to come over immediately. There, she was diagnosed with preeclampsia, a serious medical condition characterized by high blood pressure that can occur in pregnancy. She needed to give birth right away.
“They basically told me, ‘Congratulations, you’re having a baby,’” Ashlynn recalled.
The team at Stallworth made it possible for Gatlin to move across the street to Vanderbilt University Hospital’s Labor & Delivery, an exceptional situation for someone recovering from a heart transplant.
Ashlynn was induced, and after three days of labor, on Nov. 12, 2024, she delivered a healthy baby boy, Peter Wayne Winter, all 6 pounds and 13 ounces of him.
“He was perfect,” Ashlynn said.
A second transplant
In fact, Gatlin had just received his second heart transplant. He received his first nine weeks after being born with a heart that was only 75% formed. The procedure allowed Gatlin to have an ordinary childhood filled with football, basketball and weightlifting. As an adult, he went through the police academy and became a deputy sheriff for the Forsythe County Sheriff’s Office, just north of Atlanta.
He served in law enforcement for six years before fainting at work in January 2024 and being rushed to the emergency room.
“They’re telling me that this is probably a sign,” he recalls his medical team saying. “It’s time for a new heart.”
By March 2024, Gatlin joined the waiting list for a new heart at the Vanderbilt Transplant Center. Soon, he got the news that he was going to be a father, and Peter’s due date was Dec. 2, 2024. He saw that as a deadline — he wanted to get a new heart by then.
In August, he moved to a temporary apartment in Nashville to be closer to the transplant center; he got “the call” that a matching donor heart was available a month later. On Sept. 26, 2024, he received the lifesaving heart transplant. He made the deadline, seemingly with plenty of time to spare to witness his son’s birth after recovery.
But then he had a series of setbacks — not uncommon for someone who undergoes a major surgery such as a heart transplant — that kept him in the ICU for a month.
“I’ll be honest with you,” he said. “It was a long journey.”
He eventually made it to a step-down unit, then inpatient rehab at Stallworth, learning how to walk again and getting his strength back after weeks in bed. He had extra motivation — to be there for Peter.
“A lot of people kept telling me to take my time,” he said. “But I was like, no … I felt like I had a deadline.”
A healthy baby boy
Emily Tarvin, MD, assistant professor of Clinical Medicine, and her Stallworth team ensured he could be with Ashlynn during her labor.
“This was a reason to make something happen that we don’t usually do,” Tarvin said. “Medically, I thought it was appropriate because he was stable and doing well, participating well with therapy. His mom was available to supervise and to actually take him in the wheelchair over to Labor & Delivery.”
Gatlin couldn’t be in the room during the C-section, but he got to see Ashlynn and Peter shortly afterwards, which was coincidentally the day he was discharged from Stallworth.
“It was awesome seeing my first born, my son,” he said. “I was just so excited.”
Gatlin and Ashlynn took Peter to see a cardiologist days after the birth and received good news – he has no heart defects.
“Peter’s doing great,” Gatlin said.
Gatlin said he had a good experience with the Vanderbilt team. “They’re all very helpful, he said, and “also very informative on what was going on. They’re all really good people.”
Tarvin shared the credit with her Stallworth team.
“Everyone at Stallworth, all the nurses, the therapists, care partners — everybody went above and beyond to make this possible for him, and we were happy to do so. It was very exciting for us.”
According to Kelly Schlendorf, MD, associate professor of Medicine, section head of Heart Failure and Transplant and medical director of the adult heart transplant program, many heart recipients end up discharging to Stallworth for intensive physical rehabilitation following what can be prolonged hospital stays.
“Our transplant program is so grateful for the extraordinary collaborative care that Stallworth provides to our patients,” she said. “Gatlin’s (admittedly unique) story is just one of many examples.”
