William DeVries: Healing Hearts with Courage
| Category: | Famous Eagle Scouts |
|---|---|
| Notes: | Dr. William DeVries, an Eagle Scout and heart surgeon, performed the first successful implantation of a permanent artificial heart in 1982. |
William DeVries: Healing Hearts with Courage
In 1982, Dr. William DeVries made medical history by implanting the first permanent artificial heart into a human being. It was bold. It was risky. It had never been done before.
But Dr. DeVries wasn't afraid of the unknown. He was an Eagle Scout. He had spent his life preparing-learning, leading, and pushing boundaries in the name of service.
His patient, Barney Clark, lived 112 days with the artificial heart. The procedure opened new doors in medicine and paved the way for future life-saving devices.
Scouts learn to leave things better than they found them. Dr. DeVries shows us that sometimes, that means healing hearts-literally-and doing what's never been done before, because someone has to go first.