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Lawrence Faucette, a retired former soldier, suffered from a serious heart condition that almost certainly doomed him. This transplant was the only possible option for him.
Published on September 24th, 2023 11:17 am Updated on September 24th, 2023 11:25 am
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Lawrence Faucette is bedridden after his heart transplant on September 22, 2023 at the Maryland School of Medicine, USA. (MARK TESKE/AP/SIPA/SIPA)
A second chance. On Wednesday, September 20, a 58-year-old patient became the second person in the world to have a genetically modified pig heart transplanted – a new example of a very active area of research in recent years. Lawrence Faucette, a retired former soldier, suffered from a serious heart condition that almost certainly doomed him. According to a press release from the University of Maryland in the United States, where the medical school where he underwent surgery is located, he was not determined to be eligible for a human heart transplant and this solution therefore represented “the only option” for him carried out.
According to doctors, Lawrence Faucette is currently breathing on his own and his new heart is functioning well without help. “At least now I have hope and a chance,” he said before the procedure, according to the University of Maryland. “We have no expectations other than to spend more time together,” his wife also said. “It can be as simple as sitting on the front porch and drinking our coffee together.”
Such an operation was first performed at the same facility in 2022. The patient at the time, David Bennett, died about two months after the procedure “due to a variety of factors, including his poor health” before the transplant.
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