A 57-year-old Dutch man has broken the world record as the longest surviving heart transplant patient.
The English media reported it.
This is Bert Janssen, who has been living with a donated heart for almost 40 full years, received at Harefield Hospital in north-west London in June 1984 and the result has now been recognized by the Guinness Book of Records.
Janssen says he is "still grateful for the incredible gift" his donor gave him.
The man was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy after developing flu-like symptoms when he was 17, for which he was a candidate for transplant.
His cardiologist in his home country had links to Harefield Hospital and one of the transplant pioneers, Sir Magdi Yacoub, performed the operation on 6 June 1984.
Married with two children and a keen glider pilot, Janssen said it was an "honour "having reached the record milestone.
“I never could have imagined I would get this far,” he said.
"The most important thing for me is to have established a point of reference for others - he concluded -. Now it has been officially proven that it is possible to get this far with the heart of a donor. I presume that the finish line will move even a little further and I will be happy if others beat my record in due time."
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