While waiting for a transplant, 25-year-old Stan Larkin managed to live 555 days without a heart in his body—sustained only by an artificial device.
On the surface, Larkin seemed like any young father, taking his three children to the park and spending time with his brother Dominique. What few people noticed was that the gray backpack he always carried wasn’t ordinary—it housed the power source for the artificial heart that was keeping him alive.
Doctors had removed his diseased heart in November 2014, replacing it with a SynCardia temporary total artificial heart, which allowed him to leave the hospital and live an active life while waiting for a donor. Inside his chest, the mechanical heart replaced his chambers and valves, while two tubes connected to a 13-pound “Freedom Driver” inside his backpack pumped air to circulate blood through his body.
Despite the circumstances, Larkin continued to play basketball, spend time with friends, and care for his family. “It felt just like a real heart,” he said. “It was in a bag with tubes, but other than that, it was like carrying a backpack to school.”
Finally, in May 2016, he received a donor heart at the University of Michigan Frankel Cardiovascular Center. His doctors credit the artificial heart with keeping him strong and healthy enough to undergo the transplant successfully.
Larkin’s journey began years earlier when he collapsed during a basketball game and was diagnosed with familial cardiomyopathy, a genetic heart disease that also affected his brother. Both eventually required artificial heart support. Dominique received his transplant after six weeks in the hospital, while Stan became the first patient in Michigan to live at home with a portable artificial heart.
Reflecting on the experience, Stan said: “Most people would be terrified to live so long with a machine as their heart, but you have to push through the fear—it saved my life.”
Doctors call his case an inspiring example of how far artificial heart technology has come, offering hope for thousands of patients awaiting transplants.
