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Article: Robert Tools Makes Medical History As First To Receive A Self-Contained Artificial Heart.(Brief Article)(Interview)
- Article from:
- Jet
- Article date:
- September 10, 2001
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Johnson Publishing Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Sometimes the heart of a man isn't about flesh and blood, but the will to live. And sometimes that's enough to risk the experimental.
"I was on my last few days of life," says Robert Tools, of Franklin, KY, the first person ever to be implanted with a self-contained artificial heart. "... I knew I had no more chances to survive."
The July 2, 2001, surgery at Jewish Hospital in Louisville, KY, gave Tools--a diabetic with a history of heart problems whose kidneys and liver were near complete failure-another chance at life. Without the surgery that implanted the plastic and titanium 2-pound pump inside his chest, Tools, who was too sick for a human heart ...