On December 2, 1982, inside a operating room at the University of Utah Medical Center in Salt Lake City, medical history crossed a profound threshold. A quiet, meticulously focused cardiothoracic surgeon named Dr. William C. DeVries stood over an open chest cavity for nearly seven hours. He wasn’t replacing a failing heart with a human donor organ. Instead, he was implanting a mechanical device made of plastic, aluminum, and Dacron polyester.
When the air-driven pumps of the Jarvik-7 artificial heart were engaged, a distinct, rhythmically mechanical thump-click filled the operating room. For the first time in human history, a man’s life was sustained entirely by a permanent, human-engineered machine designed to replace the natural heart forever.
The patient, Barney Clark, a retired dentist suffering from end-stage heart failure, survived for 112 days. Yet, what happened inside the operating room was only half the story. Outside the hospital walls, DeVries and his team found themselves plunged into a fierce international media frenzy and a dense web of ethical questions. Was it humane to tether a human being to a noisy, tethered air compressor? Where was the line between saving a life and extending the process of dying?
If you have ever wondered about the incredible engineering, clinical courage, and high-stakes public pressure behind the world’s first permanent artificial heart implant, you are in the right place. In this detailed exploration, we will dive into the life of Dr. William DeVries, the creation of the Jarvik-7, and the legacy of a medical milestone that changed bioethics forever.
The Path to the Salt Lake City Operating Room
By the late 1970s and early 1980s, cardiac transplantation had hit a major obstacle: an extreme scarcity of human donor hearts. While open-heart surgery had advanced, thousands of patients with end-stage heart failure died while waiting on donor lists.
At the University of Utah, a multidisciplinary team of visionary researchers had spent years working on an alternative solution. Led by Dr. Willem Kolff, a pioneer in artificial organs who had previously invented the artificial kidney, and Dr. Robert Jarvik, a brilliant young engineer and physician, the team designed a mechanical heart capable of replacing the heart’s lower chambers entirely.
The device was named the Jarvik-7.
Anatomy of the Jarvik-7
Unlike temporary assist devices designed to support a heart during recovery, the Jarvik-7 was created as a total, permanent replacement.
- Dual Smooth Chambers: Made of polyurethane plastic and titanium, the device contained two separate flexible diaphragms that mimicked the left and right ventricles.
- Compressed Air Power: The internal diaphragms were driven by compressed air delivered through two heavy rubber hoses that emerged from the patient’s abdomen.
- The Drive Console: The hoses connected to a massive, 375-pound external air compressor unit affectionately nicknamed “UtahDrive,” which had to remain near the patient at all times.
While the engineering team perfected the mechanics, they needed a surgeon with the technical skill, courage, and patience to perform the delicate implantation on a human subject.
That surgeon was William DeVries. Born in Brooklyn and raised in Utah, DeVries was known for his calm, surgical precision, deep work ethic, and quiet intensity. He had spent years practicing the procedure on experimental animals, refining every stitch and suture until he could swap a natural heart for a Jarvik-7 with remarkable speed and reliability.
In 1981, after rigorous institutional reviews and regulatory hurdles, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted DeVries permission to perform the procedure on a limited number of human candidates who had no other treatment options remaining.
The Historic Night: Implanting the Jarvik-7
The ideal candidate presented himself in late 1982. Dr. Barney Clark, a 61-year-old dentist from Seattle, was suffering from severe end-stage cardiomyopathy. He was far too ill to qualify for a traditional human heart transplant, his lungs and organs were struggling, and his doctors estimated he had only days left to live.
Clark understood the experimental nature of the procedure. He was not looking for a miracle cure for himself; he volunteered in the hope that his participation might advance science and help future generations.
On the night of December 1, 1982, Clark’s condition deteriorated rapidly. DeVries made the call to move forward immediately.
The Operation
Early on the morning of December 2, DeVries began the surgical procedure:
- Excision of the Failing Heart: DeVries carefully removed the diseased natural ventricles of Clark’s heart, leaving behind the upper receiving chambers (the atria) and the major blood vessels.
- Attaching the Connectors: Special Dacron mesh cuffs were meticulously sewn onto the remaining natural tissue to act as anchor points for the mechanical heart.
- Snapping the Machine in Place: DeVries snapped the synthetic polyurethane ventricles of the Jarvik-7 into the cuffs, connecting the device to the pulmonary artery and the aorta.
- Initiating Mechanical Drive: The air lines were connected to the external console, the air lines were bled of trapped air, and the machine was turned on.
As the compressed air pulsated through the polyurethane diaphragms, the synthetic valves began opening and closing with precision. Color returned to Barney Clark’s skin as blood began flowing through his body. For the first time, a human being was alive without a natural heart in their chest.
The Media Circus: Medicine Under the Spotlight
The moment news of the operation broke, the University of Utah Medical Center became the focal point of the global news media. Hundreds of journalists, television camera crews, and photographers descended on Salt Lake City.
Unlike modern medical announcements, which are carefully managed through pre-arranged press releases, the Barney Clark story played out in real-time before an eager public. The public was fascinated by the idea of a machine replacing the human heart—an organ long mythologized as the physical seat of human emotion, soul, and life.
DeVries, who had spent his career in quiet operating rooms, was thrust into the public eye overnight.
He held daily press conferences wearing his blue surgical scrubs, explaining complex cardiovascular mechanics in plain, accessible language. He displayed incredible composure while detailing the patient’s vital signs, blood pressure, and recovery milestones.
However, the media scrutiny was relentless. News outlets analyzed every minor medical complication in detail. If Clark suffered a fever, confusion, or a minor stroke, it became front-page news worldwide, generating wild swings between dramatic hope and severe public pessimism.
112 Days: Life Tethered to a Machine
While the surgical mechanics of the Jarvik-7 worked successfully, living with a permanent artificial heart presented severe physiological and emotional challenges.
Barney Clark survived for 112 days after the operation, but his recovery was far from easy. The constant, noisy thump-click of the air compressor filled his hospital room day and night. The heavy pneumatic tubes extending from his abdomen required constant care to prevent life-threatening bacterial infections.
Throughout his post-operative period, Clark faced a series of medical setbacks:
- Seizures and Confusion: Within days of the operation, Clark suffered a series of severe seizures, likely caused by electrolyte imbalances or micro-clots, leaving him temporarily disoriented.
- Mechanical Valve Repair: At one point, a valve in the mechanical heart ruptured, requiring DeVries to take Clark back into surgery to replace the damaged component—a procedure DeVries performed smoothly and successfully.
- Kidney and Lung Failures: Clark experienced recurring organ stress as his kidneys, lungs, and digestive system struggled to recover from years of severe chronic illness prior to the surgery.
- Embolic Strokes: The artificial surfaces inside the mechanical heart tended to form microscopic blood clots, which could break free and travel to the brain, causing small strokes.
Despite these agonizing setbacks, there were moments of quiet dignity and grace. Clark sat up in bed, spoke with his wife Una Mae, watched television, and celebrated his 39th wedding anniversary. When asked by reporters how it felt to have an artificial heart, Clark famously remarked that it was better than the alternative—death.
On March 23, 1983, following severe circulatory collapse caused by systemic infection and multi-organ failure, Barney Clark passed away. The Jarvik-7 heart was still pumping steadily when doctors turned off the external air compressor.
Ethical Battles and the Departure from Utah
The story of Barney Clark sparked an intense international debate within bioethics, medical circles, and the public.
Critics argued that tethering a dying patient to a noisy, 375-pound air compressor resulted in a poor quality of life, effectively creating a mechanical cage. Some ethicists questioned whether the procedure was truly designed to benefit the patient or if it was an over-ambitious experiment performed prematurely.
Other researchers countered that every major leap in surgical history—including early kidney and liver transplants—required painful initial trials to learn how to refine the technology for long-term success.
For DeVries, the primary frustration was not the ethical debate, but the growing layer of bureaucratic red tape. Following Clark’s death, the University of Utah’s review boards became increasingly cautious, delaying approvals for subsequent surgeries with lengthy administrative requirements.
Frustrated by institutional delays and wanting to focus purely on operating on dying patients, DeVries made a controversial decision in 1984. He left the University of Utah and joined Humana Hospital Audubon, a private medical center in Louisville, Kentucky.
Humana offered to fund 10 artificial heart implants out of pocket, promising a streamlined administrative process free from academic delays.
The Subsequent Patients
In Louisville, DeVries went on to implant permanent Jarvik-7 devices into three more patients:
- William Schroeder (1984): Schroeder became the most famous artificial heart patient, surviving for an astonishing 620 days. While he achieved moments of mobility using a portable power pack, he suffered multiple debilitating strokes caused by blood clots formed within the device.
- Murray Haydon (1985): Haydon survived for 488 days post-implant, but remained largely hospitalized due to severe lung complications and infection risks.
- Jack Burcham (1985): Burcham survived for 10 days before dying from severe internal bleeding complications during surgery.
Key Takeaways: The Legacy of William DeVries and the Jarvik-7
The permanent artificial heart trials of the 1980s reshaped modern cardiology, medical technology, and patient rights in several lasting ways:
- From Permanent Replacement to Bridge to Transplant: The trials proved that while permanent artificial hearts created severe long-term complications (such as strokes and infections), mechanical devices worked remarkably well as short-term bridges. Today, ventricular assist devices (VADs) and modern artificial hearts are used routinely to keep patients alive until a natural human donor heart becomes available.
- Refinement of Anti-Clotting Protocols: The clotting issues experienced by Schroeder and Clark led directly to major advances in blood-thinning medications and synthetic materials, making modern blood-contacting medical implants far safer.
- Creation of Modern Bioethics Committees: The intense media coverage and human suffering documented during the Jarvik-7 trials accelerated the establishment of independent institutional review boards and bioethics panels to ensure patient quality of life is evaluated alongside technical success.
- Advancement of Portable Power: The physical restriction of the 375-pound “UtahDrive” drove engineers to develop small, lightweight, battery-powered driver packs, allowing modern heart-assist patients to live active lives outside hospitals.
Final Thoughts: A Courageous Leap Into the Future
Dr. William DeVries remains a landmark figure in cardiac surgery—a practitioner who combined extreme surgical skill with the willingness to step into uncharted medical territory.
The early permanent artificial heart implants were not a complete solution, nor were they painless miracles. They were difficult, high-stakes medical experiments conducted in the glaring spotlight of global media. Barney Clark, William Schroeder, and the early pioneers took heroic risks so that medical science could learn how mechanical engineering and human biology interact.
Today, thousands of individuals around the world walk, work, and thrive thanks to mechanical heart pumps and artificial assist devices. Every mechanical beat sustaining a patient modern medical wards owes a quiet debt of gratitude to the surgical precision of William DeVries, the engineering of the Jarvik-7, and the courage of the patients who paved the way in 1982.
