Meet the world's first HEARTLESS man who is able to live without a pulse

In March of last year, Craig Lewis, 55, was dying from a heart condition that caused build-ups of abnormal proteins-Amyloidosis-, and not even a pacemaker could help save his life.

But two doctors from the Texas Heart Institute proposed a revolutionary new solution – install a ‘continuous flow’ device that would allow blood to circulate his body without a pulse.

Dr Billy Cohn and Dr Bud Frazier installed the device after removing Mr Lewis’ heart. Within a day, the patient was up and speaking with physicians.

The two doctors had developed the device some time before and had tested it on nearly 50 calves.

They removed the animals’ hearts, and by the next day, the calves were doing everything they were the day before – eating, sleeping, and moving – but this time, without a heart pumping blood through their bodies.

Mr Lewis’ amyloidosis was getting worse, and doctors feared he would die soon without necessary efforts. Doctors grimly said he had 12 hours to live

Dr. Billy Con

Dr Bud Frazier

So, with the permission of Mr Lewis’ wife Linda, Dr Cohn and Dr Frazier installed the heart in March 2011

The device works by supplying a continuous flow of blood through the body, using blades to move it along. 

Dr Cohn said it contains ‘a moderate amount’ of homemade materials

Mr Lewis’ wife was astonished when she tried to listen for his pulse. ‘I listened and it was a hum, which was amazing,’ . ‘He didn’t have a pulse.'

The Texas Heart Institute said that prior to having the revolutionary new device installed, Mr Lewis was reliant on a dialysis machine, a breathing machine, and an external blood pump.

In March of last year, Texas Heart Institute president Dr James T. Willerson called it ‘medical history in the making.’

The first artificial human heart prototype was successfully implanted in 1969 by Dr Denton Cooley

Heart Stop Beating is the story of Billy Cohn & Bud Frazier, two visionary doctors from the Texas Heart Institute, who in March of 2011 successfully replaced a dying man's heart with a 'continuous flow' device they developed, proving that life was possible without a pulse or a heart beat.

Join the conversation and tweet #heartstopbeating to have your tweet featured on the Focus Forward website. Go to http://www.focusforwardfilms.com/films/9/heart-stop-beating to see the discussion