Craig Lewis: The World’s First Heartless Human

Heart Stop Beating is the story of two
visionary Texas Heart Institute doctors, Dr.
Billy Cohn and Dr. Bud Frazier. Frustrated by
the often short lifespans and mulitple
complications of usual heart replacement
devices, the two  invented a two centrifugal
pump machine. Cohn and Frazier tested the
machine by removing the hearts of several
calf’s and replacing them with the device.
After much success it was time for human
trials.
The first patient would be Craig Lewis, was
55-year-old dying from amyloidosis, a disease
which causes a buildup of abnormal proteins.
The proteins clog the organs so much that
they stop working. Lewis’ heart was so
damaged, he only had 12 hours to live.
So, in March of 2011, the doctors successfully
replaced Lewis’ heart with the ‘continuous
flow’ device they developed, proving that life
was possible without a pulse or a heart beat–
essentially without a human heart.
Although Lewis died due to complications
from his disease, the heart pumps have yet
to wear out like traditional devices, the trade
off  is the loss of the familiar and elemental
sound of a beating human heart — a small
price for a working heart.