On Feb. 22, Bill
Wohl, a former recipient of the SynCardia temporary CardioWest™
Total Artificial Heart, will celebrate 10 years of enjoying life to the
fullest with the donor heart he received at University Medical Center on
Feb. 22, 2000.
“I am so blessed to have survived in 1999”
“It’s pretty amazing,” said Wohl. “If it wasn’t for the SynCardia Total
Artificial Heart and my transplant, my son and daughter wouldn’t have a
father and I wouldn’t be here to enjoy them.”
On Easter Sunday 1999, Wohl went to the emergency room for what he
thought was food poisoning, but doctors discovered he had suffered a
massive heart attack. Wohl was told he needed a heart transplant, but
was too sick to receive one. Over the next six months, Wohl was
hospitalized 17 times. Then, on Sept. 13, 1999, Wohl’s organs began to
shut down. To save his life, doctors implanted the Total
Artificial Heart.
“I am so blessed to have survived in 1999,” said Wohl. “It took a month
after I received the Total Artificial Heart at University Medical Center
for me to wake up from a coma. Rich Smith, Director of the Artificial
Heart Program, told me I was the worst cardiac case in the hospital’s
history.”
Wohl credits his “Triangle Theory” for helping him become healthy enough
to receive his donor heart after 159 days with the Total Artificial
Heart.
“Patients need to sleep better, eat better and exercise more,” said Wohl
“I was only scheduled to go to cardiac rehab once or twice a week, but
by the end of my hospital stay, I was begging to go down there six or
seven times a week. Exercise helped make my body stronger and better
prepared for my transplant.”
Today, Wohl is a decorated transplant games athlete who competes monthly
in swimming, cycling and running. In 2008, he had the special
opportunity to spend a week with his heart donor’s parents, Stan and
Paula Brady, at the U.S. Transplant Games in Pittsburgh. He presented
each of them with a gold medal he won during the week.
“It meant so much to me,” said Wohl. “It was one of my proudest moments.
If I were scripting a movie, I couldn’t have written it any better.”
Another of Wohl’s accomplishments is helping establish specialty license
plates for organ donation in the state of Arizona. In 2002, Wohl brought
up the idea during a transplant foundation meeting in Phoenix and fellow
Total Artificial Heart and transplant recipient Leo Corbet helped make
it a reality. According to the Arizona Department of Transportation, as
of Dec. 31, 2009, there were 4,693 Donate Life plates registered in the
state of Arizona. The Arizona Coalition for Transplantation receives $17
of each $25 plate purchase and renewal.
“I’ve been able to help people and make a difference with my second
chance at life,” said Wohl. “I think that’s why I’m still around today.”
NYU Langone Health sets benchmark for heart attack survival rates