Sam Johns needed more than a new heart.
When a massive heart attack nearly killed him in February, it also ruined his kidneys. Now he is returning home with two new organs, the first Colorado recipient of a heart-kidney transplant.
“I’m really lucky,” he said. During the heart attack, “I flatlined, and they had to perform CPR for half an hour.”
He came back to life at St. Anthony’s Hospital, “but they said there was too much damage. Both organs had to be replaced.”
On Nov. 7, he got both during a marathon surgery at University of Colorado Hospital. First his 53-year-old heart was replaced. Then a new, healthy kidney was added, leaving his damaged kidneys in place.
Both organs came from the same donor.
Johns’ heart transplant began at midnight and lasted until 6 a.m. A six-hour break followed to make sure his new heart was working well. Then the kidney transplant team finished his surgery in about 2½ hours.
“It couldn’t have gone any better. It was really great,” said kidney surgeon Dr. Peter Kennealey. Johns “started making urine in the operating room,” he said, “and he was talking that evening.”
Dr. Amrut Ambardekar, the hospital’s cardiac transplantation director, praised the team effort.
“I think it’s a pretty unique surgery we can do. For the right patient, it’s a life-saving treatment,” he said.
The procedures are rare. The United Network for Organ Sharing .
Johns was a relatively young heart-attack victim and married father of two children. In every case, “we have to do a pretty comprehensive evaluation to make sure the transplant is appropriate, the patient needs it and it’s safe to do,” Ambardekar said.
In Colorado, 44 people are waiting for a heart transplant and almost 2,000 for a kidney transplant, according to UCH.
Johns said he was in and out of hospitals after his heart attack and “on the waiting list for a couple of months” for a heart and kidney from the same donor.
Now he is going home for six weeks of rest, followed by two or three months of cardiac rehabilitation.
Because organ donations are confidential, he will never know whose death gave him new life. He offers thanks anyway.
“If they have good organs, it’s very much unselfish and very much appreciated,” he said. “I’m very lucky.”
David Olinger: 303-954-1498, dolinger@denverpost.com or @dolingerdp
