BlueDevil
02-06-2006, 07:36 AM
Didn't know where else to stick this, so I thought I'd put it here...
http://www.startribune.com/466/story/226685.html
Suzanne Huff of Brainerd received the transplant at the U of M on July 26, 1978.
Tom Meersman, Star Tribune
Last update: February 05, 2006 – 7:14 AM
Suzanne Huff, the first person to have a successful heart transplant in Minnesota, died Saturday in Brainerd. She was 62.
Huff lived for 27 years after receiving the heart of a 16-year-old Burnsville boy who had died in a motorcycle accident. Huff suffered from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a debilitating and hereditary heart disease.
She received the transplant at age 34 on July 26, 1978, at the University of Minnesota. She was the university's third heart transplant patient -- the first two died. The operation took place 11 years after the world's first successful heart transplant in South Africa.
When the transplant was suggested, Hoff said later, she was determined to go forward with it because of her two adopted children, then 8 and 6. "God didn't give me these kids to have somebody else raise them," she said.
Huff became friends with the mother of her donor, and the two families shared parties, a wedding and a trip to Disney World.
Huff became a reluctant celebrity, and spoke occasionally to promote organ donations. She struggled with health problems and lived a relatively quiet life in Baxter, Minn., with her husband, Robert, who survives her.
Huff's mother, brother and two nephews died in part from cardiomyopathy. Another brother, Ken Wasnie, had a heart transplant in 1984 and lived until 2002. Huff's grand-niece Jhonna Loftis received a new heart in November.
Besides her husband, Huff is survived by a son, Steve, of Farmington; a daughter, Nicole Flory, of Brainerd, and five grandchildren.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
http://www.startribune.com/466/story/226685.html
Suzanne Huff of Brainerd received the transplant at the U of M on July 26, 1978.
Tom Meersman, Star Tribune
Last update: February 05, 2006 – 7:14 AM
Suzanne Huff, the first person to have a successful heart transplant in Minnesota, died Saturday in Brainerd. She was 62.
Huff lived for 27 years after receiving the heart of a 16-year-old Burnsville boy who had died in a motorcycle accident. Huff suffered from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a debilitating and hereditary heart disease.
She received the transplant at age 34 on July 26, 1978, at the University of Minnesota. She was the university's third heart transplant patient -- the first two died. The operation took place 11 years after the world's first successful heart transplant in South Africa.
When the transplant was suggested, Hoff said later, she was determined to go forward with it because of her two adopted children, then 8 and 6. "God didn't give me these kids to have somebody else raise them," she said.
Huff became friends with the mother of her donor, and the two families shared parties, a wedding and a trip to Disney World.
Huff became a reluctant celebrity, and spoke occasionally to promote organ donations. She struggled with health problems and lived a relatively quiet life in Baxter, Minn., with her husband, Robert, who survives her.
Huff's mother, brother and two nephews died in part from cardiomyopathy. Another brother, Ken Wasnie, had a heart transplant in 1984 and lived until 2002. Huff's grand-niece Jhonna Loftis received a new heart in November.
Besides her husband, Huff is survived by a son, Steve, of Farmington; a daughter, Nicole Flory, of Brainerd, and five grandchildren.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.