William J. Schroeder

William J. Schroeder (February 14, 1932 in Jasper, Indiana – August 7, 1986), was one of the first recipients of an artificial heart at the age of 54. On November 25, 1984, Schroeder became the second human recipient of the Jarvik 7. The transplant was performed at Humana Heart Institute International in Louisville, Kentucky by Dr. William C. DeVries.[1]

Death

After 18 days, he suffered the first of a series of strokes, eventually leaving him in a vegetative state. He died on August 7, 1986 of a lung infection, a year and 255 days (620 days) after receiving the Jarvik 7.[2] This was the longest that anyone had survived with an artificial heart at that time.[3]

The headstone marking Schroeder's grave is made of black granite in the shape of two overlapping hearts. One is laser engraved with an image of the Jarvik 7.[4]

Sources

Barnette, Martha (1987). The Bill Schroeder story. New York: Morrow. ISBN 0-688-06893-6.

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gollark: The broader issue is that when people say stuff like that they generally mean to sneak in a bunch of connotations which are dragged along with "organism" or "life".
gollark: You could *maybe* stretch that to extend to *all* humans, but *also* probably-not-organism things like stars, which also reproduce (ish), process things into usable energy (ish), sort of respond to stimuli for very broad definitions of stimuli, maintain a balance between radiation pressure and gravity, and grow (ish).
gollark: Individual humans are "organisms" by any sensible definition, inasmuch as they... reproduce, think, maintain homeostasis, grow, respond to stimuli, process inputs into usable energy and whatever.
gollark: I consider myself an atheist, since even though don't *know* there isn't a god, that doesn't mean I'm going to treat it as "well, maaaaaaybe" when the general policy for poorly evidenced claims is just to say "no".

References

  1. Altman, Lawrence K. (August 7, 1986). "WILLIAM SCHROEDER DIES 620 DAYS AFTER RECEIVING ARTIFICIAL HEART". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-09-20.
  2. Kleist, Trina (1986-08-16). "Schroeder's struggle lasts 620 days - artificial heart recipient William J. Schroeder". Science News. Science Service, Inc. Retrieved 2008-09-20.
  3. Altman, Lawrence K. (August 10, 1986). "A HERO OF MEDICINE; Schroeder, Longest User of Jarvik Device, Helped Prove Hearts Can Be Replaced". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-09-20.
  4. Fox, Renée Claire; Judith P. Swazey (1992). Spare Parts: Organ Replacement in American Society. Oxford University Press. pp. 137–139. ISBN 978-0-19-507650-9.


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