"How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?"

Today we got the sad news that Tony Huesman passed away this Sunday at the age of 51.

Tony was an inspiration to many here in the Dayton area. He had been diagnosed with viral cardiomyopathy while in high school. Then, on August 30, 1978, at the age of 20, Tony underwent a heart transplant at Stanford University. The doctors then told him that his new heart would probably only last 5 or 10 years. Tony’s donated heart proved them wrong. At almost 31 years later, it stopped due to a progression of melanoma, a form of skin cancer. Tony held the world record for living with the same transplanted heart for the longest amount of time in medical history.

Sure, holding a world record is pretty cool and all, but Tony didn’t stop there. He wrote three children’s books – Heart Smart, There Are Some Things More Important Than Baseball, and His Only Hope – in order to teach children about heart health. He founded the Huesman Heart Foundation, which provides heart healthy education programs in elementary schools and sponsors Healthy Heart Days at elementary schools around the Dayton area.

In late August 1979, an unknown person gave their heart to Tony. Tony spent the rest of his life giving back to others. That is a lifestyle we should all take to “heart”.


"It doesn't really matter when we die, how we die or why we die. What really does matter is how we live...and the hearts and souls of those we touch along the way." ~ Tony Huesman