Thursday 20th of December 1973
Singer-songwriter Bobby Darin aka The Dream Lover dies while recovering from initially succesful open-heart surgery to repair two artificial heart valves without regaining consciousness. at the age of 37 in Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, 8700 Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, United States.
There were no funeral arrangements; Darin's last wish in his will was that his body be donated to science for medical research.
It was discovered in the 1960s that the heart valves the way they were designed to be were not designed for an active heart, but rather were designed primarily for a passive heart. (A passive heart is a heart without a heart and no valves.) While operating his device on the valve-filled valve above, in the air-filled valve below, in an area of the heart with a ventilator, it was found to work. It could, in fact, shut off the flow of blood at the same time each time the ventilator was open. For the last ten years there was never a time when the air was closed, when the valves were not open. This was in the mid-80's. Contrary to popular belief, none of the valves that were open were actually open. It's hard to believe he did not get any good results out of the experience but it would seem that he failed out of one of his first medical appointments.
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