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Longest Lived Open Heart Patient: Part 1 - The Surgery That Changed Everything

Longest Lived Open Heart Patient: Part 1 - The Surgery That Changed Everything

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In 1952, a three-year-old blue baby was given weeks to live. On Dr. Alfred Blalock's 54th birthday, he and his team performed a groundbreaking surgery that would change cardiac care forever. 73 years later, Bill Causey is the longest living open heart patient in the world.


This is Part 1 of a three-part series where Bill shares his incredible story - from Dr. Helen Taussig's fingertip diagnosis, to Vivian Thomas's pinky finger that fixed his heart valve, to waking up in a recovery room with an Easter bunny. This is the story of the surgery that started it all.


Featuring: William "Bill" Causey, open heart surgery survivor since 1952 Host: Drezden Plotkin


Keywords: congenital heart defect, blue baby syndrome, Blalock-Taussig-Thomas, Johns Hopkins, pulmonary stenosis, cardiac surgery history, CHD awareness
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