On July 1, I had the honour to lead the singing of “O Canada” at the Lieutenant Governor’s Garden Party at Government House in celebration of Canada Day. And here’s a video! Here I am …
My young-YA/middle-grade fantasy Fireboy, already a finalist for Best Young Adult Novel in this year’s Aurora Awards and finalist for a 2027 Manitoba Young Readers’ Choice Award in the Northern Lights Division, has just been …
Had a great time being part of the cast of Regina Lyric Musical Theatre‘s production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. I played Fogg (the insane asylum keeper) and also sang in …
My young-YA/middle-grade fantasy Fireboy, a nominee for Best Young Adult Novel in this year’s Aurora Awards, is also a finalist for the 2027 Manitoba Young Readers’ Choice Award in the Northern Lights Division. This is …
I’m thrilled to announce that I’m up for two Aurora Awards this year! Fireboy is on the ballot for Best Young Adult Novel, and The Worldshapers is once again on the ballot for Best Fan …
I spent a good chunk of today at Wordbridge, the annual writers’ conference in Lethbridge, Alberta. My main reason for coming was to launch a Shadowpaw Press title (Broken Realm by Jenna Greene, a Lethbridge …
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"The only living Canadian with no pulse"
Sounds like the set-up to a joke about some ancient Senator, doesn’t it?
But it’s really a remarkable story about a 65-year-old-man whose heart has been replaced (*SEE UPDATE*) by an artificial “turbine heart” designed to last for 10 years.
As Paul Simon sang (many years ago now), “This is an age of miracles and wonders.”
UPDATE AND CORRECTION: The CBC story is a bit misleading, and I jumped to an unwarranted conclusion from reading it. His heart hasn’t been replaced: it’s still there, it just isn’t pumping his blood any more. Here’s the product page for the Heartmate II. And here’s CTV’s story, which is better than CBC’s.
Permanent link to this article: https://edwardwillett.com/2006/12/the-only-living-canadian-with-no-pulse/
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Doesn’t really diminish the “cool” factor, but it does raise some other questions, to whit: What about the risk of infection from an open hole in his body? And what’s pumping blood to his lungs for oxygenation?
It’s powered by an external battery.
And see my update to the post–his heart hasn’t been replaced (my misunderstanding of the CBC’s story), it’s still there, it just isn’t doing the pumping any more.
Yeah. no MRIs, I guess… I wonder what it uses for the power source? Is it nuclear like pacemakers or something else?
I have a feeling he’d better avoid strong magnetic fields, though…
That is so sweet! No thump-thump, just a quiet “whir”…