Thirty-nine years ago today, on August 6, 1986 (July 1, 1986 in the lunar calendar), the patient who had been using an artificial heart for the longest time passed away. Schroeder and his family On August 6, 1986, William J. Schroeder of the United States, the second patient to receive a permanent artificial heart, died in Louisville, Kentucky after 620 days of living with the implanted heart. He lived longer than the other four people who received a permanent artificial heart transplant. But he suffered a series of paralysis that gradually lost his ability to speak and other abilities. Each time a permanent artificial heart transplant was received, the person suffered paralysis or other serious complications. Permanent artificial heart transplants have not been performed since 1985. Schroeder, who suffered from chronic infections and lung problems while he was on the verge of death, has only left the hospital a few times after receiving a heart transplant in a specially equipped car, with his wife, Margaret, and his six children by his side.