Charles Okeke is a 43 year old that was tethered to a 400 pound machine in the hospital. Okeke was 30 years old when a blood clot destroyed his heart.
Today Okeke has a Total Artificial Heart. Both ventricles were removed along with the four valves. Connectors were sewn in and the device pumps just like the human heart does. “For the longest time I could not physically put my hand to my chest because it felt so weird,” stated Okeke. The Total Artificial Heart has just been approved by the FDA and it is the size of a backpack.