The talk charts the history of pumping blood and the concept that a mechanical device could be implanted into the human body to substitute for the heart as an alternative to transplantation. Miniature high speed turbine pumps inserted into the failing left ventricle now provide survival equivalent to a heart transplant but without the need for someone to die first. Stephen is also the author of Fragile Lives and the forthcoming The Knifes Edge published by Harper Collins.

Professor Stephen Westaby is one of the world’s most prominent cardiac surgeons and author of Sunday Times bestseller ‘Fragile Lives: A Heart Surgeon’s Stories of Life and Death on the Operating Table”. During his incredible career, he’s operated on over 11,000 patients, becoming one of the world’s top and pioneering heart surgeons. He has achieved a plethora of medical firsts, fitting the UK’s first artificial heart pump. Stephen is now retired, after having undergone surgery himself on his operating hand, damaged from all the years of holding instruments, and is Calon Cardio’s director – a medical entreprise developing revolutionary cardiac pumps which could save thousands of lives by removing the need for heart transplants, changing heart surgery forever. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx