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David Bennett, 57, is doing well three days after the experimental seven-hour procedure in Baltimore, doctors say.
The transplant was considered the last hope of saving Mr Bennett’s life, though it is not yet clear what his long-term chances of survival are.
"It was either die or do this transplant," Mr Bennett explained a day before the surgery. "I know it’s a shot in the dark, but it’s my last choice," he said.
Penny Smith, 35, received her heart transplant in September 2012. She had known for years that she might one day need one.
"I was 3 and a half when I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins T-cell lymphoma and I went into remission at age 6," she told the Daily News. "From there in 1994 I developed a heart problem, which my mom knew about. (The doctors) had told her when I went through chemo that I would have it."
Doctors monitored her condition closely over the years, but, Smith says, "I went downhill in 2007. I couldn’t breathe, I could barely walk.
