导读:心脏是人类重要的器官，但美国25岁男子斯坦.拉金在没有心脏的情况下活了555天。他之所以能够存活，全靠人工心脏辅助供血。更令人惊讶的是，他不仅可以照常生活，还能“背着心脏打篮球”。
(CNN) While waiting for a human heart transplant, Stan Larkin lived 555 days without the organ at all.
(CNN)斯坦.拉金的心脏被切除后，活了555天，终于等到了心脏移植。
To passers-by, the 25-year-old Ypsilanti, Michigan, resident appeared to be a typical young adult. He enjoyed taking his three toddlers to the park and hanging out with his younger brother, Dominique.
当你在路上看到他，这个25岁的美国密歇根小伙，他就是一个典型的、正常的年轻人。他喜欢带他的三个孩子去公园，还有，和弟弟多米尼克出去闲逛。
What wasn’t obvious was that a gray backpack Larkin carried was what kept him alive. Inside that bag was the power source for an artificial heart pumping in his chest.
你不容易发现的一个事实是，拉金背着的这个灰色的背包可是让他维持生命的宝贝——背包里是让他的心脏跳动的人工心脏的动力源。
Larkin’s real heart was removed from his body in November 2014. It was replaced with a device that allowed Larkin to stay home instead of in a hospital while waiting to receive a transplant.
2014年11月，拉金的心脏被摘除，取而代之的是一个设备，使得拉金能在家等待心脏移植，而不必住在医院。
It finally arrived this year, in May. Now, Larkin is recovering from his procedure at the University of Michigan Frankel Cardiovascular Center. He is scheduled to return home as early as next week.
幸运的是，他终于在今年5月等来了心脏移植。现在，拉金在密歇根大学心血管中心等待康复中。预计最快下周他就能出院了。
"Most people would be scared to go so long with [an artificial heart], but I just want to tell them that you have to go through the fear, because it helps you," Larkin said. "I’m going home so fast after the transplant because it helped me stay healthy before the transplant."
“戴这么长时间（人工心脏），大多数人都会感到害怕。但我只想告诉他们，你必须克服恐惧，因为人工心脏真的起了很大的作用。”拉金说，“移植手术后这么短的时间我就能出院了，就是因为在手术前的日子里，它帮助我保持健康。”
At any given time, there are about 4,000 patients nationwide waiting for human heart transplants, according to the U.S. Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network.
据美国器官获取与移植监控网络称，不管何时，全国范围内总有大约4000名患者在等待心脏移植。
Some patients with end-stage heart failure may wait months or even years before a suitable donor heart becomes available, said Dr. Billy Cohn, a cardiovascular surgeon and director of the Center for Technology and Innovation at the Texas Heart Institute.
一些心脏病晚期的患者可能要等待几个月甚至几年的时间，才能等到合适的供体，心血管外科医生、德克萨斯心脏研究所技术和创新中心的主任比利博士说。
"Many of these patients have hearts that are so weak, the kidneys, liver and other critical organs will fail while they are waiting," said Cohn, who was not involved in Larkin’s care. "Many of these patients would die without some form of support," such as an artificial heart.
他说，“很多患者的心脏功能都很弱，而在等待合适供体的时间里，他们的肾脏、肝脏和其他重要器官的功能都会衰退。因而，很多病人在没有得到某种帮助时，将会死去，比如人工心脏。”
Larkin didn’t realize that his heart was suffering until nine years ago, when he collapsed without warning while playing in a basketball game. It turned out that Larkin had a genetic form of heart disease called familial cardiomyopathy. His brother, Dominique, 24, was soon found to have it, too.
拉金一直不知道自己的心脏有问题，直到九年前，当他在打篮球时毫无征兆地晕倒。结果查出患有被称为家族性心肌症的遗传性心脏病。他的弟弟，24岁的多米尼克，很快也检查出同样问题。
Both brothers eventually progressed to heart failure and cardiogenic shock, and they were equipped with artificial heart devices in late 2014. Dominique stayed in the hospital with his device for six weeks before receiving a human heart transplant.
兄弟二人的病情最终发展成为心力衰竭和心源性休克，2014年底，他们配备了人工心脏装置。多米尼克在医院等了六周后就接受了心脏移植手术。
But Larkin, who was thriving with the device, was the perfect candidate to live outside the hospital.
然而，依靠人工心脏活着的拉金，是在医院外面的完美候选人。
"I was shocked when the doctors started telling me that I could live without a heart in my body and that a machine was going to be my heart. Just think about it -- a machine," Larkin said.
他说，“一开始，当医生告诉我，没有心脏我依然可以活着——只要用一个机器来替代我的心脏时，我相当震惊。想想吧，一个机器。”
It’s not the first time a patient has lived for a long time with an artificial heart, but Larkin became the first patient in Michigan to go home with the portable device.
人们靠人工心脏来维持生命，这已经不是首次了。但是拉金是密歇根的首位戴着人工心脏、却不住院的病人。
"Stan was very active and did an immaculate job taking care of himself and taking care of the equipment used to keep him alive," doctor said.
医生说，“拉金非常乐观，并且努力的照顾好了他自己，也小心的保护好了这个让他活命的设备，他做的非常完美。”
With his life-saving backpack in tow, Larkin played pick-up games of basketball, enjoyed time with his children and rode in the car with his friends.
背着这个救生背包，拉金参加即兴篮球游戏，享受与孩子们的时光，和朋友们一起骑车。
"It’s just like a real heart," Larkin said. "It’s just in a bag with tubes coming out of you, but other than that, it feels like a real heart. ... It felt just like a backpack with books in it, like if you were going to school."
“它就和真正的心脏一样，”拉金说。”它只是被装在包里，插上管子。但除此之外，它和真的心脏一样…这感觉就像是你的背包里装着书，就像你是要去上学。”
Voncile McCrae, Larkin’s mother, often helped him change the bandages covering the holes in his body where the tubes emerged.
拉金的母亲Voncile McCrae经常帮他换绷带，以便盖住他身体上的管孔。
"We had to be careful so that he wouldn’t get an infection," McCrae said, chuckling about how she had been scared to touch the tubes and handle the Freedom Driver machine. "Now, I’m a pro."
母亲说，“我们得非常小心以免感染。”她暗笑自己当初不敢碰这些管子，不知怎么处理这台Freedom Driver机器。不过，“现在，我可是专业人士了。”
Dominique said he and his brother are grateful that their needs were met -- and that they survived.
多米尼克说，能进行心脏移植，他们兄弟二人非常感激，现在，他们终于得救了。
"I have an amazing brother," Dominique said. "He has been here with me since the beginning and has never let me down. ... I’m blessed to have him in my life."
“我有一个了不起的哥哥，”多米尼克说，“他从一开始就和我并肩战斗，他从来没有让我失望过。生命中有他，我感到非常幸福。”
