Okeke, a husband and father of three, made news when he became the first patient in the country to be discharged from the hospital with an artificial heart in May 2010. The 13-pound heart, known as the “Freedom Driver” by the staff at the Mayo Clinic, replaced the 400-pound device that had kept Okeke alive, but confined him to a hospital room for more than 600 days after his first transplant failed. In January 2011, doctors at the Mayo Clinic were able to replace that portable lifesaving technology as well when Okeke became the recipient of a donor heart and kidney.
Arizona Republic by Weldon B. Johnson
Tags: Arizona Republic, Artificial Heart, Freedom Driver, heart transplant, Mayo Clinic Arizona, Technology, Transplant