Stan Larkin, a young man from Michigan, USA, went through an extraordinary and challenging journey when he lived for 555 days without his own human heart.
Instead, he had to carry around a gray backpack to sustain his life.
In November 2014, Stan's native heart had to be removed due to a hereditary condition called familial cardiomyopathy.
This disease caused his heart to become enlarged and weakened, leading to rhythm problems and biventricular heart failure.
Rather than keeping him hospitalized indefinitely while waiting for a heart transplant, his doctors replaced Stan's heart with an artificial device, which was powered by the specialized backpack he had to wear at all times.
Though burdened with this "artificial heart", Stan was not restricted or confined in his daily life.
He was still able to take his children to the park and even play basketball while wearing the peculiar backpack.
He shared that although many might feel afraid to live this way, he overcame that fear and it helped him maintain good health throughout the long wait.
"Most people would be scared to go so long with [an artificial heart], but I just want to tell them that you have to go through the fear, because it helps you,” he said.
Dr. Jonathan Haft, who performed the surgery, shared that Stan's heart condition was very severe, and if not supported promptly, his other vital organs like kidneys and liver could also have deteriorated, leading to his demise.
Dr. Billy Cohn, a cardiovascular surgeon, says that those in need of a transplant might have to wait years for the required treatment.
“Many of these patients have hearts that are so weak, the kidneys, liver, and other critical organs will fail while they are waiting,”
Many of these patients would die without some form of support," he said.
Craig Lewis had a rare condition called amyloidosis.
Doctors removed his heart and replaced it with a specialized device designed by doctors at the Texas Heart Institute.
This device used spinning rotors to pump blood throughout the body, eliminating the need for a traditional heart.
Although he had no heartbeat or pulse, Craig survived the surgery and gradually recovered. However, after a month, the amyloidosis started attacking his liver and kidneys, and he ultimately passed away.
Despite the tragic outcome, Craig's family felt it was worth it because he wanted to live.
Before performing the procedure on Craig, the doctors had tested the device on 38 calves, including an 8-month-old calf named Abigail, with successful results, providing evidence of the device's potential to prolong human life even without a functioning heart.
A Chinese man named Li Fu was stabbed during a robbery in 2006, with the knife blade becoming embedded in his skull.
Despite receiving medical treatment, doctors failed to spot the knife concealed deep within the 37-year-old's cranium.
It wasn't until Li visited a doctor years later to complain of persistent migraines that an X-ray revealed the shocking truth.
Doctors spotted the 4-inch knife blade had been lodged in his brain for over 4 years. Li and his family were stunned by the X-ray results and sought a second opinion before agreeing to surgery.
The surgeon, Dr. Luo Zhiwei, said he had never encountered anything so bizarre in his career.
He called it a 'medical miracle' that Li had survived the initial stabbing and managed to live with the knife embedded in his brain for 4 years.
After the successful surgery to remove the intact knife, Li Fu is reported to be in stable condition in the hospital. The case has been described as an astonishing medical rarity.
