Tech Miracles: 25 Year Old lived Without a Heart for More than a Year

Credit| University  of Michigan Health System

25 Year Old Stan Larkin had his heart removed in 2014 after he and his older brother, Dominique, were diagnosed with familial cardiomyopathy, a genetic condition that’s known to cause heart failure without warning. The heart condition is one of the leading causes of death in otherwise healthy athletes.

Stan Larkin lived for 555 days through an artificial heart he wore as a backpack while waiting for a transplant. His older brother didn't have to wait too long like Stan. Dominique got a transplant after using the artificial heart for few weeks.

According to the surgeon behind the transplant, Jonathan Haft, from the University of Michigan Frankel Cardiovascular Centre. 

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 artificial hearts, known as a SynCardia device, weighs about 13.5 pounds and is connected to the vascular system, pumping oxygenated blood throughout the body. Rather than stay in the hospital, Larkin used the wearable Freedom® portable driver to keep the artificial heart going.

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Stan amazed doctors with just how far he was able to push the envelope, even enjoying the occasional game of pickup basketball while carrying around his artificial heart.

Larkin got his donor heart in May this 2016 and has now fully recovered from the procedure.

"From a heart in a backpack to a heart transplant." ScienceDaily.