In the Netherlands, a man lived for 40 years after receiving a heart transplant

Bert Janssen

NHS

Bert Janssen from the Netherlands became a record holder, living 40 years after a heart transplant.

A man calls his life proof that you can live a long time with a donor heart, writes Reuters.

Bert was 17 when he was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, a condition that makes it harder for the heart to pump blood throughout the body.

Doctors warned the teenager: if the transplant is not performed, he has up to six months to live.

At that time, in 1984, such operations were not yet performed in the Netherlands, so doctor Albert Mattart referred the boy to the British Herfield Hospital.

In June of the same year, Janssen received a donor organ from a young man who died in a car accident. The operation was performed by the famous Egyptian cardiac surgeon Magdi Yaqub.

“I consider this day more important than my birthday“, says Burt.

Currently, the man is 57 years old. He is married and has two sons. His hobby is gliding sports.

Janssen is healthy and in great physical shape. However, due to some side effects, he had to slow down the pace of life a little.

“I’m still more or less doing what I want, but at a slightly different pace“, – says the record holder.

According to cardiologist Kasper Erlings, the average life expectancy of heart transplant patients is 16 years. However, Bert Janssen refutes this: he lived 39 years and 100 days. His achievements were included in the Guinness Book of Records.

The man managed to break the previous record, which was set by Canadian Harold Sokyrka, who lived with a donor organ for almost 35 years.

“Post-transplant patients need to be active and maintain a healthy lifestyle, which Mr. Janssen did“, – says cardiologist Erlings.

We used to toldwhere and which transplant services can be obtained free of charge by patients who need such treatment.