Family of heart transplant patient gives thanks for years added to his life

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    Hartford, CT (WFSB) — The family of the late Elijah Young, a veteran Channel 3 employee, community leader and early heart transplant patient, is giving thanks for the years that the transplant added to his life and those around him.

Young was the light in many lives. For 25 years, he was the minority projects director at Channel 3.

His daughter Tiffany Young describes her father, a Vietnam veteran, as a kind man, always helping others, while he suffered from cardiomyopathy, a hereditary disease of the heart muscle.

“He was in the hospital for months,” Tiffany Young said.

In 1992 Elijah got a heart transplant at Hartford Hospital.

That operation gave him 15 more years, precious time to see his grandchildren grow up and enjoy being the assistant pastor at the New Jerusalem Church of God.

“He would always encourage people to keep going, no matter what his situation was, no matter what he was going through,” Tiffany said.

“We give them an average of 12-15 or more years of productive and happy and fruitful life,” said Dr. Jonathan Hammond, Surgical Director of the Heart Transplant Program at Hartford Hospital.

He was actually a member of the surgical team that did the state’s very first successful heart transplant 26 years ago.

“The drama and electricity in the air when they did the first heart transplant in 1984, and now it’s almost routine,” Hammond described.

That first patient lived for 33 more years.

Since his transplant, a total of 469 heart transplants have been performed.

Hammond said the reality is not everybody can have a heart transplant, because there aren’t enough hearts to go around.

It’s estimated 100,000 people a year in the U.S. alone could benefit from a heart transplant, yet only 3,500 transplants are done.

Advances in technology was a major development for patients, allowing them to live longer while waiting for new hearts.

A bridge can last 10 years, and pumps used are lighter and smaller.

“One is about the size of a large pair implanted beneath the ribs. You couldn’t hear it, you couldn’t see it, couldn’t feel it. The only way you knew it was there is because of the power cord,” Hammond explained.

He believes future LVD’s will be powered differently, so patients won’t need to be near an external power source for them to work, giving patients a better quality of life.

“I think 30-40 years from now, transplant will be a small niche in taking care of people with end-stage heart failure,” Hammond said.

Former Channel 3 vice president and general manager Chris Rohrs knew Elijah Young well.

Elijah stood out as really special, and he just made you feel good to interact with him, on a daily basis,” Rohrs said.

Tiffany Young was proud of her dad, and thankful he spoke the truth, and the importance of donating organs.

“I remember him actually when he was well enough going out and speaking about the importance of donating and how it gave him a second chance at life,” Tiffany said.

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