Randy and Tiffany Shepherd share smiles before walking in Pat’s Run. Randy made history that day by becoming the first SynCardia Total Artificial Heart patient to enter and complete the 4.2-mile course. Doctors at the University of Arizona Medical Center in Tucson had to remove his heart, which was damaged twice by rheumatic fever in his teens and now could no longer support him. They replaced his dying heart with the SynCardia Total Artificial Heart as a bridge to transplant to a matching donor heart.
Read: Man Without a Human Heart Completes 4.2-Mile Walk
Randy Shepherd, wearing the Freedom portable driver that’s powering his SynCardia Total Artificial Heart, can spend time watching his son, Nathan, play baseball now that he’s at home waiting for a donor heart.
Randy and Tiffany Shepherd at the 4-mile marker.
The Syncardia Total Artificial Heart and Freedom Driver
