Three-Heart Man Leaves Hospital

On February 1^st 2007, 46 year-old Gary Onufer arrived at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital in Pennsylvania feeling "deathly ill." Upon examining him, doctors determined that he had congestive heart failure. His heart was not able to pump a sufficient amount of blood to his organs. So they decided that he needed a new heart. Ironically, even though the man seemed healthy overall, it was also concluded that Onufer's heart was too weak to survive the wait for a proper donor. So, when doctors asked if he was willing to undergo the implantation of the "Total Artificial Heart", Onufer agreed. This development makes Gary Onufer the only man in the Northeast whose body has housed three different hearts in one month.

GARY ONUFER'S HEART #2

On February 12^th 2007, surgeons replaced Gary Onufer's ailing heart (heart #1) with the "Total Articial Heart", which allowed him to heal the damage which had occurred due to his congestive heart failure. This device has been touted as a "bridge to transplant" apparatus, used when patients are awaiting the receipt of their donor hearts. The device was designed for those patients for whom both sides of the heart are not working properly. Those who have used the device have been reported to have twice the survival rate of those without it.

The surgery in which the device was implanted took six hours to complete. While the temporary organ was inside Gary Onufer's body, he actually had no cardiogram. After the surgery was completed, head surgeon Rohinton Morris stated:

"Gary's actually flat-lined right now...and that's a pretty wild thing to say with a patient sitting up and looking back at you."

The Total Artificial Heart in the past has been able to keep patients alive for up to five years. For Onufer the device worked well, and he was able to wait for a donor heart in relative comfort. But his wait lasted only 28 days.

GARY ONUFER'S HEART #3

Gary Onufer received his donor heart and underwent a transplant on March 11^th 2007. On Thursday (March 22^nd) the heart patient walked on his own, out of the hospital, accompanied by his wife Joan, and staff members from the University of Pennsylvania Hospital.

He stated that he felt like he could compete in a triathlon, stating: "I feel like a whole new person."

An insurance agent from Ambler, Pennsylvania, Onufer acknowledges that had he not had the transplant procedure, he would have "died slowly." Calling the past month a "blur", Onufer was given a small token of his ordeal, a lucky Tin Man (the Wizard of Oz character who also needed a heart) charm by one of the nurses.