ATLANTA - Emory Healthcare has reached a milestone number of heart transplants for the state of Georgia.
A 50-year-old man from Douglasville recently became Emory's 1,000th heart transplant patient. That's more transplants than any other hospital in the state.
After a four-month stay, Tyrone Baldwin was able to leave the hospital with a new heart and a new lease on life.
Baldwin received his new heart in May and got to leave less than three weeks afterward.
"The first thing I want to do - I want to sleep in my own bed, have a nice dinner, and go visit my grandmother, who is 90 years old," says Baldwin.
In 2008, Emory University Hospital celebrated its 500th transplant over a 23-year period since the program began in 1985.
Since then, skilled heart surgeons have completed those additional 500 transplants in a shorter time - just 13 years.
Nearly half the heart transplants have been done by one man, David Vega, MD, professor of surgery in the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery.
"None of this work would be possible without the donors and the donor families. It is the incredible gift they give at a time of unexpected tragedy that helps others live," Vega said.
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