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Heart Transplant Program

The Mayo Clinic experience and patient stories

    Heart Transplant

    Our patients tell us that the quality of their interactions, our attention to detail and the efficiency of their visits mean health care like they've never experienced. See the stories of Mayo Clinic transplant patients.

    1. Pedaling His Way to a Successful Heart Transplant

      Told he needed a heart transplant to stay alive, Greg Williams could have simply sat back and waited. Instead, he chose to take ownership of his health by exercising in his hospital room at Mayo Clinic right up until the day of his transplant in hopes of preparing his body and mind as best he [...]

    2. Heart Transplant Helps Elise Campbell Reach New Heights

      A lifesaving heart transplant at Mayo Clinic helped Elise Campbell break free from the physical limitations of a rare genetic heart condition she had lived with since she was 14. Now Elise is relishing the opportunity to enjoy experiences she never thought possible. Elise Campbell was 14 when doctors in her home state of Iowa [...]

    3. Defying Odds to Make it Through to a Heart-Lung Transplant

      Aryn Clark needed a heart-lung transplant, but the wait was almost sure to be a long one. Advanced technology that did the work of her heart and lungs during that wait kept her healthy enough to be ready once transplant organs became available. Aryn Clark was born with two holes in her heart, a condition [...]

    4. Chronicling a Transplant Through the Eyes of a Caregiver

      Throughout Bob Washnock's journey to a heart transplant, his wife, Pam, was dedicated to being his caregiver. Pam then turned that experience into a book about caregiving in hopes of encouraging and supporting others who find themselves in that role. In the early morning hours of Feb. 20, 2013, Bob Washnock announced to his wife, [...]

    5. New Heart, New Hope and a Real Chance at a Future

      After years of struggling with cardiomyopathy, a heart transplant at Mayo Clinic renewed Thomas Kim's health and rekindled his confidence in the future. Thomas Kim had all but forgotten what it was like to make long-term plans. With his wife, Yona, by his side, the 48-year-old spent years focused on trying to figure out what [...]

    6. Teen Receives Thorough, Compassionate Care Before, During and After a Heart Transplant at Mayo Clinic

      When most people think of their happy place, they envision something like a warm, sunny beach or a cozy mountain cabin. But when Lisa Fairbairn thinks about a place that gives her comfort, Mayo Clinic?s Rochester campus comes to mind. She?s happiest there because it?s where her son Chase was given a second chance. Not [...]

    7. Life Beyond A Heart Transplant is Vibrant and Full for Elmo Aquino

      Fifteen years ago, Elmo Aquino, a resident of Orange Park, Florida, was an avid runner. He'd competed in Jacksonville's Gate River Run, an annual 15-kilometer running event, several times. But one morning in the summer of 2001, his active lifestyle came to an abrupt end when suddenly, while on a treadmill, he found he couldn't [...]
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    Oct. 10, 2019

    Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., has been recognized as one of the top Cardiology & Heart Surgery hospitals in the nation for 2019-2020 by U.S. News & World Report.

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    Heart Transplant Program

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