(Web Desk) - Lawrence Faucette, the man who last month received the world’s second genetically modified pig heart transplant, died, the University of Maryland Medical Center announced.
He was 58. Faucette, a Navy veteran and former lab technician at the National Institutes of Health from Frederick, Maryland, was facing death from heart failure when he underwent the surgery Sept. 20.
Doctors said he had other health problems that made him ineligible for a traditional heart transplant.
Doctors said Tuesday that Faucette had initially made "significant progress" after surgery but in the past few days, "his heart began to show initial signs of rejection."
He lived for nearly six weeks post-operation.
"We mourn the loss of Mr. Faucette, a remarkable patient, scientist, Navy veteran and family man who just wanted a little more time to spend with his loving wife, sons and family,” Bartley P. Griffith, M.D., the doctor who conducted the groundbreaking surgery, said in a statement provided to The Messenger.
"Larry started this journey with an open mind and complete confidence in Dr. Griffith and his staff," Faucette's wife Ann added in a statement. "
He knew his time with us was short, and this was his last chance to do for others.
He never imagined he would survive as long as he did, or provide as much data to the xenotransplant program. He was a man who was always thinking of others, especially myself and his two sons.
The kindness and selfless acts of others were not unnoticed. ... Larry's family continues to be in awe of the man that he was and how he has shaped our lives.
He can never be forgotten." The same Maryland team last year performed the world’s first transplant of a genetically modified pig heart into another dying man, David Bennett, who survived two months.