Transplant: 35th Anniversary Edition

In the 1970's John and Ann Hurley are an affluent suburban couple on their way up. He is a key executive with a large shipping company and is due for another promotion. Suddenly, at thirty-five, he is stricken with a massive coronary, and given last rites. But he refuses to die. After four years of small improvements and shattering setbacks, he becomes one of the earliest heart transplant recipients in the world, undergoing pioneering surgery at Stanford University Medical Center.

As the Hurleys describe this harrowing experience, in their own words, to author and New York Times critically acclaimed motion picture director Philip Dossick, their narrative evolves into a rich family chronicle that spans the years of their childhoods, courtship, and married life. John is a provocative, sometimes shocking man, a powerhouse with an indomitable will to live. Ann emerges as a brave and conflicted woman forced to find the courage within herself to endure and ultimately triumph over an agonizing encounter with America's number-one killer.

Transplant is the utterly unself-conscious account of how this couple coped with catastrophe and refused to knuckle under to a uniquely terrifying experience. No fictional medical thriller could capture the pain and immediacy of this true story of love and survival.

Includes a new introduction by Philip Dossick.