In the long history of medicine, there are some stories that bring tears to our eyes and make us re-examine the preciousness and miracle of life. One such living miracle is the Dutch man Bert Janssen, whose story not only touched the world, but also set an astonishing record in the medical world.
A crisis of life.
In 1984, at the age of 17, Bellet Janssen was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, a condition that makes it difficult for the heart to pump blood throughout the body, which can lead to heart failure. Doctors gave a brutal **: If he didn't undergo a heart transplant, Penta might have only half a year to live.
At that time, there was no experience or case of heart transplantation in the Netherlands, so the local doctor recommended Pentt to go to England to seek hope. In the UK, Penta was matched with a heart that suited him, and the donor was a young man who had died in a car accident. So, on June 6, 1984, a team led by heart transplant pioneer Maggiore Jacoba performed surgery on Penta.
Miracles happen. After the surgery, Penta's life was filled with new hope. He quickly returned to a "high quality" of life and began to enjoy the pleasures that life brings. Now, almost 40 years later, Penta is 57 years old, he loves to fly gliders, has a happy family, and has two lovely sons.
Bert himself said: "I never really thought about what would happen so long after so long. Despite his good health, in recent years he has had to slow down because of the *** of heart medication: "I still do what I want to do more or less, (but) the rhythm is different," he said. ”
Breaking records. Caspar Elrens, a heart doctor at Belt, said the average survival time for patients who undergo a heart transplant is 16 years. However, Penta's survival time has far exceeded this average, becoming the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest survival time after undergoing heart exchange surgery, with a record time of 39 years and 100 days, creating a miracle in the history of medicine.
The previous record holder was Canadian Harold Soikka, who survived 34 years and 359 days after undergoing a heart transplant. The Asian heart transplant survival record holder is Yu Wenfeng, a Chinese man, with a survival time of 29 years.
Talking about this heart transplant, Jacob, the surgeon at the time, expressed his gratitude to Bert for his dedication to the cause of global health, but in Bert's view, he should be more grateful to the doctors. "I think the most important thing is that I can be a role model for others," he said. It is officially recognized that you can live so long after receiving a heart transplant. In the future, this time will be.