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Stay up to date with WRAL’s Heart transplant news and reporting coverage

Heart transplant News and Reporting Coverage | WRAL

Heart transplant Coverage

The Cape Fear Heart Walk held on Saturday raised money to help fight cardiovascular diseases and stroke. 

'I've made it so far': Heart Transplant Survivor celebrates at Cape Fear Heart Walk 

Wilmington Heart Walk

He was the world's youngest recipient of an artificial heart. And he was expected to live only a year. But as so often, life didn't go as predicted. 

Tractor poles are loud. And dusty And tin with gasoline and exhaust. Richmond FFA alumni tractor Paul. But then life has never been clean and tidy. For Chris Larson, it was just awful. I don't even want to remember for sure how it was when you think your 15 year old kid is dying. The year was 1987. Chris Larson is 1/9 grader here at Ellsworth Junior High School, well liked by everyone, and Chris, he's opened his eyes, was world news. Larson became the youngest person to ever receive an artificial heart, Abbott Northwestern Hospital, and a mechanical heart that kept Chris alive for. 45 days after his stroke when his own heart failed, boy critical after implant of the jarvick heart. Precious days until a donor human heart could be found for Chris. This is when they let him go home for one day, but this is Chris in his wheelchair, freed from the hospital, only one thing Chris wanted to see, and this was his nurse. He wanted to go out and see his tractor. Chris's Alice Chalmers had his heart. And still does. It's the world to him. That's the only thing he's got. OK. All summer long Chris can be found at tractor pulls contest to see which tractor can drag the heaviest weight the farthest. This is the last one of the season. Sally Larson is and all three. I'm Susan of her older kids. I'm Stacey are here to support. They're, we're just happy that he's happy, but in truth he's gone through a lot. Everyone here is Chris's family. You want these off? Yeah, yeah. Other pullers help Chris take off weight and put it back on. Sure, the hot dog hot dog with what on? You wouldn't be able to do this if he didn't have all your friends. You can have Lonnie help you. Well, no, I'll help you. The same friends who last year all presented Chris with a special trophy that now sits on display in his home with his others, friends who've stayed at Chris's side through the complications of his stroke through about with cancer. And now Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, failing kidneys. We've gotten to know each other very well. Selena Malika. Chris's dialysis nurse gets the weekend highlights every Monday. I think it's fascinating. You don't have a lot of tractor pole. I definitely do not. Now time for new highlights. Come on, Chris. Chris's doctors once gave him a year to live. Yet 38 years later, the survivor of an artificial heart. Cancer and kidney failure is not easily. Stopped Proud of you. Good job. Good for you. That's proud of you. Love you for what he's overcome over the years. And still able to come out here and pull. Right here. Not a bad metaphor. Just keep on pulling for Chris Larson's, I think so. Life keep on pulling.

Meet the world's youngest recipient of an artificial heart--38 years later

WI YOUNGEST ARTIFICIAL HEART RECIPIENT 38YRS LATER

A heartwarming reunion for a Fuquay-Varina family, who tragically lost their daughter, meets the recipient of her heart two years later. 

Family of teenage heart transplant recipient meets their donors family

Inside 7-year-old Apex resident Saleh Ahmad's chest beats a heart donated by 4-year-old Myles Godfrey, who was killed in a car crash three years ago. Godfrey's mother, Kaci Wilson, invited the Ahmad family to her wedding over the weekend.

THE DMV IN EFFORTS TO FIX THEM ON WRAL COM. >> THE TEARS AT THIS WEDDING. WE'RE NOT JUST FOR THE BRIDE AND GROOM, BUT FOR THIS LITTLE BOY, THE CARRIED A PIECE OF THE BRIDES LAWSON UP THE AISLE. IT'S A LOT OF SALON LA GOT FROM APEX. GOT A NEW HEART FROM THE BRIDE'S SON WHO DIED IN A CAR CRASH 2 YEARS AGO. THE FAMILY MET FOR THE FIRST TIME HAVE THIS WEDDING AND THEY TOLD ME ABOUT THE BITTERSWEET MOMENT THAT THE BRIDE GOT TO HEAR HER SON'S HEARTBEAT AGAIN. >> AND HERE TO FAMILIES UNITED BY ONE HEARTBEAT, WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH YOUR HEAD HEARING HIS HEARTBEAT. I DIDN'T HEAR ANYBODY SAYING. >> IT IN HERE. ANYTHING OTHER THAN THAT. >> THIS LITTLE BOY AND HIS FAMILY GIVING CASEY WILSON THE WEDDING GIFT SHE WANTED MOST TO HEAR HER LATE SON'S HEART BEATING IN THIS 7 YEAR OLDS CHEST. HER SON MILES GODFREY WAS 4 YEARS OLD WHEN HE WAS KILLED IN A CAR CRASH IN 2023. WAS IN THE HOSPITAL FOR A FEW DAYS. >> AND THEN WE HAD TO MAKE A DECISION TO TAKE THEM OFF AND EVERYTHING. YOU KNOW THAT IF IT WAS HIS DECISION, A DECISION THEN. >> HE WOULD WANT US TO HELP SOMEBODY ELSE. THAT DECISION TURNED SOLEMN. AHMED SICKNESS IN TO HELP YOU SAW HE WAS BORN WITH A VERY SERIOUS HEART CONDITION. WE JUST HAD WITH FAITH AND PRAYERS THAT SOMETHING MIGHT CHANGE THE SITUATION. >> SO APRIL 2023, YOU WANT TO BE GOT A HEART TRANSPLANT FROM MILD. THESE 2 MOMS HAVE BEEN BOUND TOGETHER EVER SINCE. >> BUT IT NEVER MET BEFORE THE WEDDING. WE DECIDED THAT WE'RE GOING TO FALL INTO THAT LITTLE CEREMONY. SO I IMMEDIATELY TAX YARRA AND ASKED HER IF THERE WAS ANY POSSIBLE WAY THAT COULD COME IN BECAUSE I WANT YOU TO BE A COMPLETE SURPRISE FOR MY ENTIRE FAMILY. FOR MY HUSBAND. NOW, A NEW CHAPTER TO LOVE AND TO CHERISH. NOW I CONSIDER US ALL FAMILY ALLOWING THAT TO HAPPEN ON OUR PART. JUST AMAZING BECAUSE NOT EVERYBODY GET THAT EXPERIENCE MINDS LIVE WITHIN SOLID KYLE WAS STILL CASEY WAS OK AS LONG AS SOLID SOAKING MAS IS OKAY. >> YOU KNOW, WEDDINGS ARE ALWAYS ABOUT 2 FAMILIES COMING TOGETHER. BUT THIS WAS AND EVEN BIGGER UNION THERE. AND YEAH, THEY'RE GOING TO BE CLOSE FOREVER. IT'S A BEAUTIFUL STORY. AND THE FAMILIES, THE PEOPLE LIKE THAT, I'M IN AWE OF THEM THE WAY THAT THEY CAN FACE THE HARDSHIPS IN LIFE, MOVE FORWARD AND DO IT WITH SUCH GRACE, BRING PEOPLE

Apex heart transplant recipient walks donor's mom down the aisle

Ultimate wedding gift: Bride walks down aisle with Apex boy, the recipient of her late son's heart

Inside 7-year-old Apex resident Saleh Ahmad's chest beats a heart donated by 4-year-old Myles Godfrey, who was killed in a car crash three years ago. Godfrey's mother, Kaci Wilson, invited the Ahmad family to her wedding over the weekend. 

Three girls are forever linked thanks to a rare surgery performed at Duke Hospital.

These three girls have a lifelong bond. It all started last fall when 11-year-old Journey Kelly suddenly felt tired. It was hard to breathe. It was her heart. She was in severe heart failure at 11 years old, 11 years of age. Then earlier this year, the Kelly's got a life saving call. A donor heart became available and Duke pediatric heart surgeons Doctor Joseph Turek and Doctor Douglas Overby went to Journey's parents with an idea. Journey would get that new heart, but although her old heart muscle wasn't working, the valves could still be used to help other patients. We call it a domino transplant, which means that one person gets a new heart and then the heart that comes out. Has good valves in it and so we can split that heart into multiple recipients at that point. Those recipients Margaret Van Brugggen and Kensley Frisell. And how did you feel about being able to help these two a little bit too? How happy that I did. That piece of her heart probably saved your life. Yeah, probably. That's what Daddy said. He said this heart surgery will save my life. 9 year old Kensley was born with a heart defect and had her first operation at just 2 weeks old. One of Journey's valves would help replace Kinsley's failing aortic valve. 14 year old Margaret, a cross country runner, thought she had a stomach bug but ended up in the ER. I had a staph infection and I also actually had endocarditis, which is when the staph like gets into your heart. She needed a new mitral valve, a complex valve located deep inside the heart that looks kind of like a parachute attached to muscle by pieces that resemble cords. It's a more difficult valve to access. Doctors had never transplanted a living mitral valve into any. It's incredibly groundbreaking when you think about who this is going to help in the thousands of children that this could help in the future. Over 3 days, Doctor Turk and Dr. Overby orchestrated 3 demanding and complex surgeries, all successful. The families returning to Duke to talk with us. Some had never met. Margaret's mom Elizabeth joining Kensley's dad Keenan and Journey's mom Rachel. I'm really grateful, really grateful. 1 donor heart, 3 lives saved. I just think it's more than extraordinary helping two other families, it couldn't be more perfect. That makes me want more people to be donors. People might not realize the impact they can have. In the hospital, Margaret wrote a card to Journey. Dear Journey, hi, I'm Margaret, and you gave me a part of your old heart. But guess what you are? Amazing. That's what you are. All three girls feeling better now after my surgery I could breathe much, much better. I'm really excited to get back to running because it's honestly one of my favorite things to do. Journey wants to go shopping and visit Hawaii. Ken's. She is looking forward to riding her dirt bike again. She turned 9 in the hospital and says the best birthday present she got was that new heart valve. Because it's really important in my heart. You guys are probably gonna know each other for the rest of your lives. I'll bet your families will keep in touch a little bit. There's no way I can forget her. She's inside of me.

Heart transplant extends the lives of 3 girls at Duke Hospital

Duke heart transplant

Doctors told Donavon Harbison his time was running out at Duke University Hospital earlier this year. Harbison eventually became the second person to ever receive a titanium artificial heart.

<p>As Donovan Harbinson lay in a North Carolina Hospital. Earlier this year, doctors told him time was running out what the 35 year old teacher and father thought was pneumonia was actually severe heart failure. And now his every heartbeat was becoming more faint. His lungs filling with fluid. I think it was like heart failure and it was scary. It was like, oh heart failure means death. Doctors told him his only hope for survival was a heart transplant. He really needed all this support. And over the course of just a few weeks had to be transitioned onto pumps that were not enough support for him. There are nearly 4000 patients on the heart transplant list right now with far fewer organs available. People can wait months, sometimes years for an available heart while waiting for a heart. Doctors can offer temporary devices to manage heart failure, but they can be large and cumbersome and don't always work well for everyone. As a last resort doctors at Duke Health turn to an experimental device, a Titanium artificial heart powered by magnets and made by Bor that would actually replace his heart. Daniel Timms invented the device And can you show me how does it fit, where, where would it go? The natural heart will be removed and then the device will be attached through these connections to the remnant parts of the heart uh in inside here. And then these um grafts are then stitched to the remaining vessels, both the aorta and the pulmonary artery. That's incredible. A team of duke surgeons including Doctor Carmelo Milano spent four hours implanting the device in an instant. The device was able to recreate normal circulation, normal amounts of blood flow, uh normal pressures. That was very exciting. This is the first moment Harbinson was able to stand up with his Titanium heart. It was definitely heavier because you don't normally feel your heart. Donovan was just the second person on the planet to receive one. I knew mentally my heart was gone and I'm like, ok, I am gonna be Tony Star. You know, I'm about to, you know, come out with a uh a shiny piece in my chest that you know, just keeps me alive. Yeah. So that was kind of like the running joke. Good luck to you for Donovan. Within days of getting the device, he was able to get healthy enough for a transplant and now with his new heart, he'll get to watch his Children grow, including his fourth baby on the way. Would you say that this device saved your life? Yes. Um without a doubt</p>

Life-saving device extends NC man's time after surgery at Duke

Man receives artificial heart

Doctors turned to an experimental device - a titanium artificial heart powered by magnets made by BiVACOR - that would replace Donavon Harbison's heart.

NC father embraces new life after becoming 2nd person to receive titanium heart at Duke Hospital

At just 18 days old, Owen Monroe made history when surgeons at Duke Children's Hospital made him the first person in the world to receive a partial heart transplant.

HE CONFRONTED 3 PEOPLE TRYING TO STEAL BEER. >> THIS IS THE SMILING FACE OF ONE OF THE MOST UNIQUE AND FORTUNATE CHILDREN ON THE PLANET AND JUST 18 DAYS AND MONROE MADE HISTORY WHEN SURGEONS AT DUKE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL MADE HIM THE FIRST PERSON IN THE WORLD TO RECEIVE A PARTIAL HEART TRANSPLANT. AND HIS STORY IS REMARKABLE. NOW DOCTORS KNEW AND HAD HEART PROBLEMS BEFORE HE WAS EVEN BORN. NOW WITHOUT GETTING TOO TECHNICAL HERE, HIS HEART WAS JUST NOT GOING TO SUSTAIN HIM THROUGH HIS LIFE AND WITHOUT INTERVENTION, HE WAS GOING TO DIE. THAT'S WHEN DOCTORS AT DUKE SHACK DOWN WITH HIS PARENTS, TAYLOR AND NICK AND SAID WE HAVE AN IDEA THEY WANTED TO TRY SOMETHING THAT HAD NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE THE TRANSPLANT. A PORTION OF A DONOR HEART LIVING TISSUE TO REPLACE THE PARTS OF OWENS HEART THAT WEREN'T WORKING PROPERLY. HE WAS LESS THAN A MONTH OLD WHEN THE SURGERY TOOK PLACE. HIS HEART WAS THE SIZE OF A STRAWBERRY AND THE TEAM AT DUKE DELIVERED. NOW MORE THEN A FEW MORE THAN A YEAR LATER. AND OWENS PROGRESS HAS BEEN REMARKABLE. >> HOW LUCKY AND BLESSED WE REALLY ARE TO HAVE THIS OPPORTUNITY. BECAUSE HONEST, 21 MONTHS AGO WE WERE NOT SURE WHO'S GOING TO GET TO THE NEXT DAY. IT'S REALLY THE GREATEST KNOWING HOW PRECIOUS LIFE COMES. AND I BECAUSE OF THE SITUATION THEY CAN. I TRULY DON'T TAKE THAT. THEY WITH HIM FOR GRANTED. >> NOW THIS WHOLE PROCEDURES GROUNDBREAKING FOR A FEW REASONS. FIRST, UP UNTIL NOW, OWENS MORE LIKELY OPTION WOULD HAVE BEEN TO TO DO THE SAME PROCEDURE. BUT WITH TISSUE FROM A CADAVER THAT TISSUE WON'T EVER GROSSO HAS ONLY GOT BIGGER AND HIS HEART GREW. HE'D NEED REPEATED SURGERIES OVER AND OVER INCREASING THE RISK FOR COMPLICATIONS EACH AND EVERY TIME. BUT WITH HIS SURGERY, THE TISSUE GROWS WITH HIM. >> THIS IS CREATED A NEW FIELD IN CARDIAC SURGERY AND YOU KNOW, THE ON ONE LEVEL YOU'VE GOT A BABY LIKE OWEN, WHO HIS LIFE IS REALLY BEEN TRANSFORMED BY HAVING THIS OPERATION. AND THEN ON ANOTHER LEVEL THEY'RE GOING GOING TO BE THOUSANDS OF CHILDREN IN THE FUTURE THAT ARE GOING TO GOING TO BE ABLE TO BENEFIT FROM FROM THIS PROCEDURE. >> IN SURGERY, 12 OTHER PARTIAL HEART TRANSPLANTS HAVE BEEN PERFORMED ON CHILDREN. 9 OF THEM AT DUKE AND SOMETHING ELSE TO CONSIDER HERE. THIS ALSO CHANGES HEART DONATION AS A WHOLE. THIS MEANS THAT ONE HEART WON'T ONLY HELP JUST ONE PERSON. DOCTORS CAN NOW USE VARIOUS PARTS OF A SINGLE HEART TO HELP A NUMBER OF CHILDREN TO SAY THIS WILL CHANGE LIVES IS SIMPLY AN UNDERSTATEMENT. EXACTLY. THE PICTURE BEHIND YOU, HIS FACE IS THE FACE OF HOPE FOR SO MANY PEOPLE FOR GENERATIONS TO COME. I WAS TALKING TO THE DOCTOR AND HE SAID, YOU KNOW, IF YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE A POSTER CHILD FOR THIS AMAZING PROCEDURE.

New Duke Health heart surgery saves child's life and will save many others

A year after doctors at Duke Health transplanted some valves and arteries into the heart of a sick child, they announced success on Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

BEING HELD ON $500,000. BOND. >> NEW AT NOON, WE'RE GETTING AN UPDATE ABOUT THE NORTH CAROLINA BABY WHO RECEIVED THE WORLD'S FIRST PARTIAL HEART TRANSPLANT. WRAL'S. BRIAN SHRADER IS HERE WITH SOME GOOD NEWS, BRIAN. MICHELLE, WE FIRST BROUGHT YOU THE STORY IN AND MONROE FROM LELAND. NORTH CAROLINA WAS BORN AT DUKE UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL WITH A RARE HEART DEFECT. THE 2 MAIN HEART ARTERIES WERE FUSED TOGETHER AS ONE AND HE HAD A SIGNIFICANT HEART VALVE LEAK. DOCTORS DIDN'T THINK OWEN WOULD LIVE LONG ENOUGH TO GET THE HEART TRANSPLANT HE NEEDED. SO A TEAM AT DUKE HEALTH PERFORMED WHAT IS BELIEVED TO BE THE WORLD'S FIRST PARTIAL HEART TRANSPLANT. IT USED HEALTHY ARTERIES AND VALVES FROM A HEART THAT HAD MUSCLE TISSUE TO WEEK FOR A FULL TRANSPLANT. AND NOW WE'VE LEARNED IT HAS BEEN SUCCESSFUL. A STUDY PUBLISHED THIS MORNING IN THE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION SAYS THE TRANSPLANT LED TO 2 WELL-FUNCTIONING VALVES AND ARTERIES THAT ARE GROWING NORMALLY WANT THE DOCTORS INVOLVED IN THAT PROCEDURE ARE CALLING FOR CLINICAL TRIAL TO