Today Whitlow is on his college lacrosse team. “My teammates tease me that I’m slow, because it takes me a little longer to warm up,” he says. But now he knows that they’re only teasing. “Last year, they voted me the Most Inspirational Player. That felt good.”
Some people are not healthy enough to wait for a heart transplant. Machines can help people while they wait. This machine can replace a human heart.
Pump
This machine has two pumps. Each has a motor that pushes blood out of the heart and into the body.
Tube
A large tube carries the blood into and out of each pump.
Valve
Four valves control the flow of blood through the heart and into the body.
Telling their Stories
Today Brian Whitlow and Jessica Melore are healthy college students. They have received a lot of attention. They’ve appeared on talk shows and given interviews. Newspapers and magazines have written about them.
Both students hope their extraordinary stories will inspire others. They’d like to see more people arrange to have their organs donated to others after death. “We really need more organ donors,” Melore says. “It’s a little-known issue.”
Whitlow and Melore also want to help other kids who face obstacles. “Focus on the positive things in your life,” Jessica tells young audiences. “You can’t change what’s in the past, so make the most of the future.”