A man's heart migrated to the place where his lung used to be. After a challenging surgery, he's back to restoring vintage cars.

• Gary Wingfield had his left lung removed after contracting double pneumonia as a child.
• He developed heart issues in 2018. Doctors said his heart had moved to the place the lung once was.

When Gary Wingfield had his left lung removed when he was 12, he refused to be fussed over by family and friends.

The middle schooler, who had the lung resection after contracting double pneumonia, went against his parents' wishes by taking part in sports such as football, track, and weight lifting.

"I felt like people were looking over my shoulder saying, 'You can't do this or you can't do that,'" Wingfield told Insider. "But I had to be my own man."

Decades later, he took the same attitude when he needed risky surgery for a serious heart condition he was diagnosed with three years ago. His lung resection had made the problem worse because, unusually, his heart had drifted into the gap where his lung once was.

A cardiologist said Wingfield's heart had drifted into the space where his lung used to be

"It was daunting, but I was determined to go through with it," Wingfield, who'd earlier suffered a stroke and a heart attack, said. "I didn't think I had much of a choice."

The surgery — which took place in April — was so complicated that more than 15 medical professionals were called into the operating room.

"The lungs are like big balloons, and the left side supports the heart a little, keeping it in place," Dr. Nadish Garg, one of Wingfield's cardiologists at Memorial Hermann in Houston, told Insider.

"When the lung is missing, there is a tendency for the heart to move and rotate," he added.

The specialist said that Wingfield's heart — which had already been treated with cardiac ablations and fitted with stents — needed an aortic-valve replacement. But he said that its low-lying location behind Wingfield's rib cage had made ultrasound scans and other routine imaging challenging.

"In some ways, you are guessing where the heart chambers would be," Garg said.

He said that a team of cardiologists studied the imaging data, planned each stage of the operation, and prepared for all outcomes. They were helped by representatives from the valve manufacturer, which, Garg said, gave advice on how to maneuver the surgical instruments from an unfamiliar angle.

"We anticipated that some of the delivery mechanisms were going to be upside down and worked accordingly," Garg said of the lengthy procedure.

Wingfield celebrated his 70th birthday soon after his operation

The operation was a success.

"There were times when I really thought I might not make it," Wingfield, who just turned 70, said.

The father of three said that he was feeling "great" and no longer felt breathless. He said he was able to "pick up his life where" he had left off and return to his favorite activity, restoring a vintage car.

"My doctors were amazing," Wingfield said. "I told Dr. Garg that he was a 'badass' after the surgery, and he couldn't stop smiling."