Dick Cheney Receives Heart Transplant

Dick Cheney

Pol Light Moment #114 happened on March 24, 2012, when Dick Cheney had a heart transplant. Dick Cheney served as the Vice-President of the United States from 2001-2009, while George W. Bush was the President.

Heart transplants are providing extended years of life for heart patients of all ages who are in otherwise good health in the rest of their body. Dick Cheney has had a history of heart disease and had 5 heart attacks between 1978 and 2010. On March 24, 2012, Cheney received a heart transplant from an anonymous donor at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Virginia. At the time the former Vice-President was 71 years of age and he had been on a waiting list for a heart for 20 months (Wikipedia: Dick Cheney).

The following is a news video of Dick Cheney receiving his transplant.

When asked how he felt 18 months after his transplant, Dick Cheney had this to say:

"Now I'm to the point where-- I literally, you know, feel like I have a new heart. A lot more energy-- than I had previously. There aren't any real physical limits on what I do. I fish, I hunt. And-- I don't ski, but that's because of my knees, not my heart. So it's been a miracle (CBS News, 60 Minutes, October 20, 2013)."

After the success of his transplant, Dick Cheney co-authored a book in 2013 with his chief cardiologist, Dr. Jonathan Reiner called Heart: An American Medical Odyssey (USA Today, October 20, 2013).  

Pol Light does not endorse political candidates. We present a brighter side to politics when they are found on either side of the aisle. We don't have to agree with all of a person's politics to recognize these bright moments.

Photo: The photo of Dick Cheney is in the Public Domain.