Here’s one exceptional example that miracles do happen. Believe it or not, this young athlete survived without a human heart for more than a year, but what kept him alive till then? Read on to know his story.
Stan and his brother Dominique were both diagnosed with the same condition. While Dominique got a donor in a couple of a weeks, Stan had to wait for a year before he received a full heart transplant.
Until then, he carried an ‘artificial heart’ in a backpack which helped him pump blood around his body.
This artificial heart device is called Syncardia. Larkin carried this 6 kg device around 24/7 for 16 months before he received the transplant.
When asked about the transplant, the surgeon Jonathan Haft said to Science Daily–
“They were both very, very ill when we first met them in our intensive care units. We wanted to get them heart transplants, but we didn’t think we had enough time. There’s just something about their unique anatomic situation where other technology wasn’t going to work.”
The good news is that Stan Larkin has now fully recovered from the heart transplant surgery. Recalling all the struggle, he described his journey as an ’emotional roller-coaster’ and shared it with the media with an aim to raise awareness about heart failures and the need for heart donors.
David J. Pinsky, director of the Frankel Cardiovascular Centre, said-
“You’re heroes to all of us. The fact that you take your story public and allow us to teach others makes a difference. You’ll make a difference for a lot of patients. You’ll make a difference to the doctors of the future. We thank you for allowing us to share your story and your bravery in sharing it.”