Daniel Phan was in heart failure and days from undergoing lifesaving surgery when he and his girlfriend, Julia, decided to get married — in the ICU.
Daniel and Julia Phan met when they were kids after Daniel’s parents hired Julia’s mom to work at their nail salon.
“We were the same age. I went to her house when I was, like, eight years old, not knowing she was going to be my future wife,” Daniel told Healthline.
While the two drifted apart for several years, they reconnected on Facebook after college in 2014, but it wasn’t until 2023, when they were both in their early 30s, that they began dating.
“I reached out because I saw [on Facebook] that she was at a concert and I love concerts, so I asked her if she wanted to go to a concert with me,” said Daniel. “And that’s how it started.”
About a year into dating, the couple discussed marriage; however, their path to tying the knot took a turn when Daniel became ill.
When Daniel was 11 years old, he was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a genetic heart disease in which the heart muscle becomes too thick, making it harder to pump blood.
Daniel’s older sister also has the condition, and their mom carried the genetic mutation that causes HCM.
Shortly after his diagnosis, he got a pacemaker.
“I was excluded from many activities like sports,” he said. “It was a very sad, traumatic time.”
Playing guitar and drums became his outlet, and he went through high school without any major health incidents.
However, in his early 20s, he had a few occurrences where he over-exerted himself exercising, causing him to pass out and end up in the emergency room.
Then in 2024, he began having arrhythmias without exerting himself.
On January 15, 2025, he was sitting on his couch watching TV and experienced an intense arrhythmia.
“It was the worst one. I was super dizzy, threw up everywhere, my heart wouldn’t calm down…so I called 911, and they showed up, and I ended up in the ER for a week in Gainesville Northeast Georgia,” said Daniel.
Because Daniel was in heart failure, he was transferred to Piedmont Heart in Atlanta, where he originally hoped to receive a heart transplant.
Circumstances didn’t allow Daniel to receive a heart transplant, and he ended up getting a Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD).
LVADs are recommended when patients have heart failure that has become refractory to medical therapy, said Sagar Damle, MD, cardiothoracic surgeon at Piedmont Heart.
“In this situation, the heart is too weak to adequately pump blood to the entire body, and patients have worsening heart failure. They usually have significant symptoms, such as shortness of breath with activity, fatigue, and tiredness,” he told Healthline. “When medications are no longer effective, LVADs, and sometimes transplant, are the next steps.”
The LVAD works like a water pump, taking blood from the left ventricle and sending it to the body through the aorta.
“In a nutshell, it effectively functions as the patient’s own left ventricle,” said Damle. “Since most patients who have heart failure have predominantly left ventricular failure, LVADs work very well in that scenario.”
Before undergoing the LVAD surgery, Daniel felt compelled to ask Julia to marry him.
“While I was in the hospital, I said, ‘Do you want to marry me?’ She was there every day. It was a huge commitment for her, and we already knew we wanted to be married,” he said.
“He handed me his mother’s ring, and it fits perfectly,” she told Healthline.
The next day, on January 29, 2025, the couple married in the ICU, with their uncle officiating and some of their closest family members and friends in attendance.
“We had like 12 or 13 people surrounding Daniel’s bed and around the machines too,” said Julia. “We always joke about how our wedding costs the most, surrounded by expensive machines.”
The next day, Julia hustled to the courthouse to get their marriage license and make it official. This meant Daniel could get coverage for the LVAD surgery under Julia’s insurance.
“Time was ticking. Daniel was on life support, and the doctors were telling us, ‘the longer you are on life support, the worse you’re going to get,’ and we had to come to a decision,” she said.
Recovery was tough for Daniel at first. Being on life support required an extra surgery to repair a damaged vein.
“I was super fatigued, still recovering, I could barely walk to my driveway without being out of breath,” he said.
Several months of physical therapy got him back to feeling about 80-85% better.
“Going up the stairs before the LVAD, I’d need to stop and take a breath,” said Daniel. “Now I can go upstairs, and I’m a little tired, but I’m confident because I can see the numbers on LVAD, and I know I’m good. If anything happens, I know the LVAD is doing its job.”
He leaves the option open for a heart transplant in the future, but for now, he believes in his recovery and the LVAD.
“Who knows, five years from now, the LVAD technology could be even more advanced,” said Daniel. “[Hopefully] my heart recovers; it’s really rare, but that’s what I believe in. I believe in God, and I’ve seen miracles happen.”
Damle said LVADs are often used in patients who are too sick to undergo a transplant, or in some patients who may have a contraindication or exclusion to a transplant.
“They can stay on LVAD support for many years if needed to improve their candidacy for transplant,” said Damle.
Today, Daniel and Julia are living life to the fullest, given their circumstances. They hope to start a family soon.
“I’m just really glad that he’s on his feet and he hasn’t had any bad symptoms or any episodes,” said Julia. “It’s been over a year now that he’s had his LVAD, and we’ve actually really managed life. Life looks different, but I wouldn’t have it any other way, honestly.”
Daniel said he wouldn’t be where he is without Julia’s support.
“She’s done everything for me,” he said.
Julia said that the challenges they’ve faced together have “made life more meaningful,” and she’s even begun helping others going through similar experiences as a part of Abbott’s Care Partner Ambassador Program.
“I love the wording of care partner because…I was trying to be a wife and a caregiver,” she said. “Being able to listen to other people’s stories and knowing that these people aren’t just caregivers, they are very meaningful in patients’ lives, is [rewarding].”
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