We Stand For Care

Imagine waking up from what you thought was a minor procedure, to find two pumps stuck through your stomach feeding your body blood, and facing the news that you need a new heart, fast. That is was happened in March 2006, to rugby player and surfer, Joe Matthews’ when he was 18-year’s-old. Matthews, who calls himself “English Joe,” was undergoing a procedure to implant a heart defibrillator when his heart became so weak and stopped beating on its own for nearly an hour at Stanford Hospital & Clinics.

Trained to provide BETTER MEDICINE, doctors at Stanford Hospital & Clinics used all their available resources and expertise to keep Matthews alive. Three weeks later, doctors MADE A DIFFERENCE for Matthews’ when he underwent a heart transplant.

Today, Matthews is back in England training for the World Transplant Games to be held in Brisbane, Australia, in August. Since his heart transplant, he’s replaced his passion for rugby with track and field and hopes to set a new world’s record in the 100 meters at the Transplant Games.

Stanford, a leader in the field of heart and lung transplantation, is COMMITTED to unraveling the mystery of Matthews’ particular type of heart failure. “This place has a long and important history in the area of heart failure,” said Robert Robbins, MD, chair of cardiothoracic surgery and director of the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute. “We expect to make important advances in the future, as well, in better understanding the mechanisms of heart failure.”

For more information on Matthews and the continued research in cardiovascular care, click here.