# 'They got us through it': Man receives new heart as Johns Hopkins achieves transplant record

A new way of thinking at Johns Hopkins is giving life to a record-breaking number of patients experiencing heart failure. In 2024, the institution doubled its number of heart transplants.

"My heart is now healthy. I am now able to live a normal life," Ryan Loveless said. "I believe I would not have survived without his help."

Five months after Loveless received a new heart, the husband and father of three is on his way to a full recovery surrounded by the Johns Hopkins transplant team, which stepped in at his eleventh hour.

"Back in July, we came up here to find out things were a lot worse than I thought," Loveless said.

The West Virginia man had traveled to Baltimore for a second opinion. He had been living with a genetic mutation to his heart that resulted in the death of both his mother and brother. Loveless was looking to get ahead of his ultimate diagnosis, which is heart failure. The only cure is a transplant.

Loveless was admitted on Oct. 1, 2024, and soon placed on Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation life support. The 37-year-old took in every heartbeat he had left with his family before being rolled down the hospital hallway for surgery, waving goodbye — at peace with whatever was to come next.

"Between God and the staff here, they got us through it," said Jamie Loveless, Ryan Loveless' wife.

On Oct. 20, 2024, Ryan Loveless woke up with a new heart. He spent just seven weeks in the hospital.

"We're learning that we can support a lot of patients that we didn't think we could before," said Dr. Chetan Pasrija, surgical director of heart transplantation at Johns Hopkins.

Ryan Loveless is one of 65 heart transplants completed at Johns Hopkins in 2024. That broke the previous record of 27 in a single year, due in part to the team adopting new guidelines on who is able to give and receive the organ.

"It is remarkable growth that we've seen in the last year, and that has taken a significant amount of planning and bringing together expertise," said Dr. Kavita Sharma, director of heart failure and heart transplantation at Johns Hopkins.

The staff at Johns Hopkins is accepting more patients from across the region who are at risk of rejection. They then seek out experts at the institution to find solutions. In doing so, they have cut the average waitlist time for patients like Ryan Loveless by more than half.

It's an effort the team hopes to keep growing to provide care to as many heart failure patients as possible.

"The feeling that there are probably 30 or 40 patients whose lives we were able to save and who honestly may not be alive right now if didn't have the opportunity to help them, it's an amazing feeling, and it's why we work so hard every single day," Pasrija said.

**BALTIMORE —** A new way of thinking at Johns Hopkins is giving life to a record-breaking number of patients experiencing heart failure.

In 2024, the institution doubled its number of heart transplants.

"He saved my life... Because he was pushy, but in a good way," said heart transplant recipient Ryan Loveless.

Five months after Loveless received a new heart, the husband and father of three is on his way to a full recovery surrounded by the Johns Hopkins transplant team, which stepped in at his eleventh hour.

"Back in July, we came up here to find out things were a lot worse than I thought," Loveless said.

The West Virginia man had traveled to Baltimore for a second opinion. He had been living with a genetic mutation to his heart that resulted in the death of both his mother and brother. Loveless was looking to get ahead of his ultimate diagnosis, which is heart failure. The only cure is a transplant.

Loveless was admitted on Oct. 1, 2024, and soon placed on Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation life support. The 37-year-old took in every heartbeat he had left with his family before being rolled down the hospital hallway for surgery, waving goodbye — at peace with whatever was to come next.

"Between God and the staff here, they got us through it," said Jamie Loveless, Ryan Loveless' wife.

On Oct. 20, 2024, Ryan Loveless woke up with a new heart. He spent just seven weeks in the hospital.

"We're learning that we can support a lot of patients that we didn't think we could before," said Dr. Chetan Pasrija, surgical director of heart transplantation at Johns Hopkins.

Ryan Loveless is one of 65 heart transplants completed at Johns Hopkins in 2024. That broke the previous record of 27 in a single year, due in part to the team adopting new guidelines on who is able to give and receive the organ.

"It is remarkable growth that we've seen in the last year, and that has taken a significant amount of planning and bringing together expertise," said Dr. Kavita Sharma, director of heart failure and heart transplantation at Johns Hopkins.

The staff at Johns Hopkins is accepting more patients from across the region who are at risk of rejection. They then seek out experts at the institution to find solutions. In doing so, they have cut the average waitlist time for patients like Ryan Loveless by more than half.

It's an effort the team hopes to keep growing to provide care to as many heart failure patients as possible.

"The feeling that there are probably 30 or 40 patients whose lives we were able to save and who honestly may not be alive right now if didn't have the opportunity to help them, it's an amazing feeling, and it's why we work so hard every single day," Pasrija said.
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