The 38-year-old Johan van Wyk has plenty to celebrate, ten years after being diagnosed with heart failure, he has now become the first person in South Africa to receive a mechanical heart.
His diagnosis of heart failure at just 29 years of age was a bitter blow, his future looked bleak with no donor heart available for the life-saving transplant he so desperately needed.
The now fully qualified electrician and father, has since made history by becoming the first-ever recipient of a state-of-the-art mechanical heart device implanted in his chest.
In speaking to the goodnewsguy he said“You never know what an asset your health is until you are put in a situation like this, "It came as a real shock to discover that I had a serious heart problem at such a young age.”
In a first for the Netcare Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital (NCBMH) in Cape Town, Dr Koen, assisted by cardiac surgeon Dr Loven Moodley, transplanted the tiny device known as the Abbot HeartMate 3™ LVAD left ventricular assist device, next to Johan’s heart on 18 June.
Because the device is electrical things like taking a bath or swimming are luxuries Johan will have to do without now, but a willing compromise in exchange for being given a new lease on life.
