| 23 December 2011
Heart or Not, Middlesex Politician Keeps on Ticking
Richmond Times-Dispatch
December 2011
Jack Miller doesn't mind acknowledging that he ran a heartless campaign this fall to win re-election to the Middlesex County Board of Supervisors. He couldn't help it — not having his heart and all.
"I may be the only politician in history that has been participating without a heart — without a legitimate heart, I mean," Miller said with a laugh in a phone interview Friday from his home in Locust Hill.
By "legitimate," Miller means his own heart. Miller, 62, was diagnosed 11 years ago with degenerative heart disease. Over the years, his heart grew weaker and weaker. Doctors did what they could, but the thing finally reached the point of giving out, and something drastic needed to be done. So, on Sept. 15, surgeons at VCU Medical Center in Richmond removed Miller's heart — but not his sense of humor — and replaced it with a mechanical device that will keep him alive until a donor heart becomes available for a transplant... read more
SynCardia temporary CardioWest™ Total Artificial Heart.
