Politico
Former Vice President Dick Cheney received a heart transplant and is now recovering from the operation, his office disclosed Saturday, according to The Associated Press.
Cheney, 71, had been on a transplant waiting list for more than 20 months, and is now recovering in the Intensive Care Unit of Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Va.
“Although the former vice president and his family do not know the identity of the donor, they will be forever grateful for this lifesaving gift,” Cheney aide Kara Ahern said in a statement, according to the news service.
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The former vice president, who served from 2001-09, has had a long history of heart problems.
In 2010, Cheney suffered a heart attack, his fifth since the age of 37. He has had a slew of surgeries to address these problems, including a bypass surgery in 1988 and two angioplasties following that.
In January 2011, Cheney said he was getting by on a battery-powered heart pump, which made it “awkward to walk around.” He also said he hasn’t made a decision yet on a transplant, but that “the technology is getting better and better.”
Cheney said then that he’d “have to make a decision at some point whether I want to go for a transplant,” according to the AP.