Written by Zoie Denton

Before everything changed, Rhonda Gilliland was simply a daughter saying goodbye to her father. Within hours of his passing, she faced her own life-threatening crisis, entering what she describes as a peaceful place between worlds before returning to a long, painful recovery.  A life-saving heart transplant ultimately reshaped how she understands time, loss, and what it truly means to live.

On June 1, 2019, Gilliland sat beside her father as his life quietly slipped away. The room, heavy suspended between breaths and memories. Machines hummed softly in the background, but Gilliland barely noticed them. Her focus was on her dad, the man who had always been her anchor. She held onto each moment, unwilling to let go.

Then, without warning, everything changed. Gilliland’s chest started to physically hurt.

“It felt like a hot poker… it was just going into my chest. It was so painful,” Gilliland said.

The pain came suddenly, cutting through the grief already building inside her. The discomfort wouldn’t fade, and her family insisted she have someone check it out. Still, Gilliland tried to ignore it. She didn’t want to become the one in crisis when her father needed her most. Hesitantly, she had to leave his side to go get checked out by another doctor. Two hours later, her father had passed away. 

The next morning, Gilliland expected a routine chest procedure. A simple procedure that was supposed to send her home, so she could be with her family. Instead, everything unraveled. During the procedure, a complication caused her left main coronary artery to dissect. Within moments, her life slipped away.

Rhonda had died.

In that moment, something extraordinary happened. She found herself somewhere peaceful, somewhere beyond fear and pain. Her father was there, standing beside her as if nothing had ever separated them. 

“It was like, when you walk on the beach when the sun is rising, or like when you’re on a lake. It was just so calm and peaceful, and then there was no sense of time,” Gilliland explained. “Then my dad was there. He said, ‘I’m okay. Everything’s all right. Don’t worry.”

At first, Gilliland thought her father was speaking about himself. However, the calm reassurance in his voice reached deeper. 

“It was a place between worlds. It was calm and peaceful. And I knew right then, I was in Heaven’s waiting room,” said Gilliland.

The next thing she remembered was hovering above the operating table, watching as her body jolted under the force of defibrillators while doctors scrambled in a frantic race to pull her back. 

Everything slipped into darkness again.

Weeks passed, which felt like only moments to Gilliland. Her body had endured more than she could comprehend, six weeks on full bypass support, something few people survive. When she finally woke, reality came crashing in.

“I remember thinking, I just went to sleep and woke up, and that I should be able to do everything,” she said.

Even the smallest tasks felt impossible. Sitting up in bed, lifting her hand, even brushing her hair, drained every ounce of strength she had in her. The gap between what her mind expected and what her body could do left her frustrated and exhausted.

Recovery became a daily battle, one that tested her physically and emotionally. There were moments when giving up felt easier than pushing forward. But she wasn’t alone in the fight.

Her husband, Mark, stayed by her side, encouraging her when she couldn’t find the strength herself. Her children, parents, and extended family filled the hospital with support. Their presence became her foundation when everything else felt uncertain.

“They didn’t leave,” Gilliland explained. “They came up every week to see me, and they kept me going, but it was so hard when they had to go back home.”

Eventually, she was placed on the heart transplant list. Deep down, she believed things would work out, even when the process felt overwhelming. Days passed, and multiple hearts were offered before doctors finally found the right one.

“I knew it was going to happen,” she said.

The transplant marked another turning point. Recovery after surgery brought new challenges, especially the loss of independence. Having to rely on others for even the simplest needs was one of the hardest adjustments she faced.

But through it all, her faith steadied her.

“God gave me a peace about the whole situation, and I wasn’t scared,” she said.

That same sense of peace carried her through the unknown, even when her body was weak and her future uncertain. It gave her the strength to keep going when frustration and exhaustion threatened to take over.

Over time, Gilliland regained her strength. What once felt impossible slowly became manageable. Each step forward, no matter how small, was a victory.

“A second chance at life, for me, is about living with intention,” said Gilliland. “It’s about cherishing the people who stood by me when I needed them most.”

“They’re everything to me,” Gilliland said of her family. “They’ve been my constant through everything I’ve faced, and I can’t imagine getting through any of it without them.”

Now, Gilliland sits in quieter moments with a different kind of awareness. The same stillness that once filled that hospital room now carries a different meaning.

Today, Rhonda knows her life is different. Her encounter gave her a renewed sense of purpose, understanding the value of time in a way she never had before. Though she often thinks about that day, holding her father’s hand and how quickly everything shifted, she moves through life with a quiet sense of peace. What comes next no longer feels uncertain in the same way; her focus stays on the moments and people in front of her.

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