A 74-year old man has become the oldest patient to go home after having one of the new plastic hearts being given to people with severe heart failure.
Bob Phillips (pictured above with doctors) has been sent home with the Total artificial heart while he waits for a heart transplant.
The hearts have been given to patients around the world, including the UK.
Bob became ill after having a heart attack last summer, but the hearts are also being given to those whose heart failure is due to cardiomyopathy.
Bob said: “I feel normal. That may be hard to believe, but I do. They put it in and I really didn’t know an artificial heart was in there.”
He was given the heart in September at Penn State Hershey Medical Centre in America. Just before Christmas he was given a wearable power supply so he could be discharged from hospital while he waits for a matching donor heart.
He went home to his wife Norma (pictured right) last month.
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Dedicated to Damian McLoughlin, who died age 20 of cardiomyopathy. This site is supported by Damian's family and friends.
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