Czech Man Becomes The First Person In The World To Live With No Heart Or Pulse

A 37-year-old man from Czech Republic
recently became the first man to live without
a heart for six months.
Jakub Halik, a former firefighter lived without
a pulse for six months after undergoing
pioneering surgery in April when doctors
removed his heart and replaced it with
mechanical pumps, according to The Sun.
On April 3rd, Halik became the second man to
undergo the revolutionary procedure after the
first patient, Craig Lewis, died a few weeks after
surgery in Texas in 2011. The father-of-one had
been in peak physical condition until he collapsed
and doctors found an aggressive tumor growing
inside his heart.
Doctors had told Halik that he wouldn’t survive a
heart transplant because he wouldn’t be able to
take the necessary drugs prescribed afterwards
because of his cancer. Halik, who is from
Neratovice in the Czech Republic, was left with no
other choice but to undergo a risky operation to
remove his heart completely and replaced with a
fake one until he could recover from the cancer.
“It was hard for me but I didn’t have any other
chance at all. It was acknowledged that with the
tumor I can survive for about one year and I
decided to fight and do it this way,” Halik told
reporters at a press conference 148 days after his
operation, according to Reuters.
Surgeons at the Institute for Clinical and
Experimental Medicine in Prague spent eight
hours operating on Halik. They had implanted
two 20cm pumps with propellers into Halik’s
chest.
Each propeller had the ability to spin at 10,000
rotations per minute to mimic the pumping
action of the organ. The pumps were designed to
perform the separate actions of the left and right
side of the human heart. One of the devices
pumps blood to the lungs while the other sends
oxygenated blood back to the circulatory system.
However, the only thing they cannot replicate is
the pulse. “I don’t even realize it, because the
functions of the body are the same, only my
heart is not beating and I have no pulse
anymore,” Halik said. “This is the only difference
but otherwise I am functioning like a healthy
man at present.”
The pumps were powered by batteries that last
between eight and 12 hours before they need to
be recharged. After the surgery Halik’s heart had
deteriorated rapidly and tests showed that he
had internal bleeding and kidney failure. His
muscles had also started to weaken and he lost a
lot of a lot of weight.
Despite his rapidly deteriorating body, Halik was
able to make a remarkable recovery and is “doing
extremely well” says Head Surgeon Jan Pirk.
Halik, who is currently on the waiting list for a
heart transplant, said his life had been
transformed after the surgery. “It was a massive
relief when I was told the surgery had gone well
and everything was okay,” Halik said. “I’m used to
it all now. I don’t even realize I don’t have a heart
anymore.”
“I feel great though. It’s amazing to think I’m
functioning like a completely healthy man when I
don’t even have a heart,” he added.
Source: Medicaldaily.com