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American Morning

One of Six Patients in World to Receive Latest Approved Artificial Heart Released From Hospital

Aired January 23, 2002 - 07:50   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome back at 10 minutes before the hour. Just this week one of six patients in the world to receive the latest approved artificial heart was released from the hospital, and is reportedly doing just fine in a nearby hotel. All six recipients were dying from heart failure before receiving the implants, and success is far from guaranteed. So far three patients have already died, but this doesn't discourage one man in Houston who is very happy with every extra day he's been given. CNN medical correspondent Rhonda Rowland has this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RHONDA ROWLAND, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Sixty-nine year old Bobby Harrison, the third person in the world to trade in his own failing heart for a battery-powered artificial heart.

BOBBY HARRISON, HEART RECIPIENT: It sounds like train taking off.

ROWLAND: And what do you think when you hear that sound?

B. HARRISON: That it's just a sound that you got to put up with if you want to live.

ROWLAND: Harrison, a smoker most of his adult life, carved out a career in the oil fields of Texas. He was called on to battle raging oil fires, then in his 50s, suffered a devastating heart attack. For a decade now, he's struggled with heart failure. Cardiologist Dr. Reynolds Delgado evaluated Harrison last September.

DR. REYNOLDS DELGADO, ST. LUKE'S EPISCOPAL HOSPITAL: Completely bed-bound, and was clearly dying.

TONI POOL, TEXAS HEART INSTITUTE: He had been told he was just out of options.

ROWLAND: The artificial heart gave Harrison hope. The night before the nine-hour operation Harrison told his nurses ...

POOL: I know I want to do it, and I hope it helps me. But if it doesn't help me, I hope it helps the next guy.

ROWLAND: After the surgery, you know, when did you start to notice a difference? You know, physically how he was doing, emotionally.

DELGADO: He's a real character, a real kind of countrified Texas character, and he started getting like that, and I knew that he was getting better.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's a different person (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

B. HARRISON: Hundred percent.

DORIS HARRISON, BOBBY'S HARRISON'S WIFE: Definitely.

ROWLAND: World renowned heart surgeon, Dr. Bud Frazier, has been working on this artificial heart for a decade.

Has he told you he's glad that he underwent the procedure?

DR. BUD FRAZIER, TEXAS HEART INSTITUTE: Oh yes. Yes. He's never deviated from that.

ROWLAND: Even though some days Harrison struggles, like the day we met him, he was recovering from some minor complications.

D. HARRISON: He's come a long, long way. We have little setbacks. The doctors explained to him, you have one step forward, and sometimes you may slide two back.

FRAZIER: If he doesn't make it, it'll certainly make me well keep working harder because you realize his courage.

ROWLAND: What would Bobby Harrison tell others about the artificial heart?

B. HARRISON: That if they got heart that was in the shape mine was in, I'd tell them to go for it in a minute.

UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: Happy Birthday to you.

ROWLAND: Harrison celebrated his 69th birthday this month. If he hadn't traded in his heart, he would never have seen that day.

Rhonda Rowland, CNN, Houston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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