I read the synopsis of an episode of The Six Million Dollar Man where it says that assassins try to stop Steve from delivering a bionic heart, and that's what Captain Picard got as a result of a fight with three Naussicans. He should've offered to take his friend's place in that challenge to a game of billiards. That way he wouldn't have lost friends, and he could've kept his own heart and maybe still had the same rank.
Take care and God bless