According to ScienceAlert.com, Stan Larkin (and his brother Dominique), from Ypsilanti, were diagnosed as teenagers with a heart condition so dangerous that they were put in line for heart transplants. But doctors were afraid their hearts might fail at any time.

So, their doctors at the University of Michigan removed their hearts.

Stan and Dominique were put on artificial heart machines. Dominique got his heart transplant within a couple of weeks. Stan's took a little longer. In fact he lived with a special "artificial heart" back-pack called a "Syncardia" that kept his blood circulating. And he wore it for 555 days, until his heart transplant in May. The backpack weighs about 13 pounds. Stan, who's 25, missed being able to hold his three daughters or give them piggy-back rides, but he still played basketball while wearing it. His surgeon, Jonathan Haft says, "Stan pushed the envelope with this technology ... He really thrived on the device."

No word on whether you can get one of these backpacks with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on it.

 

Banana Don and Stephanie McCoy amuse and thrill you every weekday morning from 5:30 –10AM on the radio at 100.7 WITL.

Banana Don can be reached via email at don.jefferson@townsquaremedia.com and on Twitter at @WITLBananaDon and @WITLFM. Also, Facebook friend Banana Don and Stephanie at Facebook.com/BananaStephanie and Facebook.com/WITLFM.

 

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