Newark hospital gives patient a new heart despite blackout from Superstorm Sandy
NJ.com | Susan Livio
Photo: A grateful Angel Vazquez holds a heart pillow in his bed at Newark Beth Israel hospital. The native of Puerto Rico who lives in Newark received a heart transplant Wednesday night when the hospital was still without power. Surgeons at the hospital were able to perform the intricate surgery thanks to a backup generator and skilled medical help. John Munson/The Star-Ledger
When the call finally came â€" and with it the prospect Angel Vazquez would live to see his 53rd birthday â€" Hurricane Sandy had already plunged most of the state into darkness.
But unlike millions of other New Jerseyans, blackouts and gas shortages were not on Vazquez’s mind. On Wednesday afternoon, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center reached him by cell phone to say a donor heart was available from a young man in the Midwest.
In the aftermath of the most catastrophic storm ever to strike the Garden State, the organization that recovers and places organs and tissue for transplant, the NJ Sharing Network, had to first locate a plane to retrieve the heart.
Then the hospital transplant team needed to perform the intricate surgery on Vazquez in a state still largely in the dark, relying solely on the power of a generator.
But unlike millions of other New Jerseyans, blackouts and gas shortages were not on Vazquez’s mind. On Wednesday afternoon, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center reached him by cell phone to say a donor heart was available from a young man in the Midwest.
In the aftermath of the most catastrophic storm ever to strike the Garden State, the organization that recovers and places organs and tissue for transplant, the NJ Sharing Network, had to first locate a plane to retrieve the heart.
Then the hospital transplant team needed to perform the intricate surgery on Vazquez in a state still largely in the dark, relying solely on the power of a generator.
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