Motivational speaker Brian Carden shares his ‘redemptive’ 18-year journey through a life-saving heart transplant and double amputation. To start with!

What is true motivation, and how can we find it each day, regardless of our circumstances?
Imagine the greatest gift you could ever give anyone: life.
People often ask me if a heart transplant changed my personality. Well, has it?
Where is God during a long-term illness? Does He even know we are suffering?
Every day in the United States, over 20 people die while waiting for an organ transplant.

Please email me, let’s start a conversation. wales534@gmail.com.

I am currently in the UK.

I lead Zoom group meetings and offer individual counselling for discussions and support. Additionally, I frequently receive invitations to speak at both small and large gatherings, including sermons, panels, and conferences.

I do not charge any fees, except for travel expenses related to events outside of North Carolina or internationally. This is not a business for me; I seek no profit. It is part of my ministry.

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My journey has been filled with emotional hardships, strong convictions, and a sense of losing control. Ultimately, this led me to surrender everything to God while finding joy in His grace. I am grateful to the remarkable doctors, nurses, and hospital staff who dedicate their talents and hard work to helping me and all those in need..

Meet Brian Carden.

I used to work in the aircraft manufacturing industry, but now I am retired. I am a proud father of three exceptional and independent daughters. I prefer to communicate in plain English and avoid using buzzwords. Originally from Wales, I moved to the United States in 1995 when I was 38 years old. A job offer that was too good to refuse prompted me to relocate with my family.

Age has become something of a puzzle for me lately. I received my donor heart on March 1, 2012, when I was 55 years old. My wonderful donor was 20 years younger than I. It's been 13 years since the transplant, which means I am now 68 years old—or perhaps 13, depending on my mood on any given day. I am now an ordained, non-denominational Minister and Amputee advocate.

It was 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 1, 2012—St David’s Day, a very special occasion for all Welshmen. Saint David, known as Dewi Sant in Welsh, is our Patron Saint. I sat in my home office, propped up in a wheelchair, having reached yet another milestone in my two-and-a-half-year wait on the transplant list in my quest to stay alive. I was being supported by a remarkable intravenous drug called Milrinone. I wondered if I would make it to the next milestone I had set for myself; I doubted it and had largely resigned myself to my impending demise. I was almost looking forward to it.

Suddenly, the phone rang, and the caller ID displayed ‘Duke, 919 area code.’

“Hello… Mr. Carden?”

“Yes?”

“This is Melissa from Duke Transplant; we have a heart for you. How quickly can you get to Duke Hospital?”

I had always imagined achieving one of those bucket list items: racing through the streets at breakneck speed and getting pulled over by the police. I pictured the officer asking me what I thought I was doing, and I would reply, “I’m on my way for a heart transplant!” The officer would then tell me to follow him, and we would zoom off together in a cloud of smoke, sirens wailing and blue lights flashing!

The journey was 60.7 miles and took 58 minutes from Jamestown, NC, to Duke University Hospital. Surprisingly, I didn’t see a single police officer the entire trip!