Bridgeport Man Receives Heart Transplant on Valentine's Day

A Bridgeport man waiting for a heart transplant received a special gift from a donor and Yale-New Haven Hospital this Valentine’s Day.

John Pesavento, 60, found out early Sunday that he would be receiving the donor heart he’d been waiting on for the last year. Pesavento was diagnosed with stage end heart failure following complications of a heart attack he had 20 years ago. He has been on a left ventricle assist device (LVAD) for a year and a half and was listed on the heart transplant recipient list for a year.

The donor heart came from northern New England. No other information about the donor is available. Once informed a heart was available, the team at Yale-New Haven Hospital immediately began preparing for the 6-hour transplant surgery, which took place Sunday evening.

The hospital released the following statement on the transplant:

“Everyone, from the doctors here at YNHH as well as the recipient’s family are grateful to those who made this heart available for Mr. Pesavento,” said Dr. Pramod Bonde. “We know that available hearts come about only because another family has experienced loss. When hearts become available and we are able to save a life, we have to act quickly. But it is because of the thoughtfulness of the donor that we are able to give this new heart to Mr. Pesavento. We encourage others to consider the gift of life when possible. While every day is a great day to save a life with a heart transplant, perhaps there is no better day than Valentine’s Day.”

February is American Heart Month. For more information on that, check out Yale-New Haven Hospital’s website.
 

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