'Holy balls!' Teen patient gets Star Wars-themed good news

  • 22/03/2018

A doctor in Chicago has established a reputation as a bit of a rebel - well, at least in the Star Wars sense of the word.

Just ask the 15-year-old patient whose day he made, CBS News reports.

Austin Eggleston was in need of a new heart after five surgeries and four pacemakers failed in providing a long-term solution.

He waited at Chicago's Lurie Children's Hospital for four months for a transplant, but there was no heart available.

His doctor, paediatric cardiologist Philip Thrush, told him if he had good news he would come dressed as Star Wars character Chewbacca.

So when Dr Thrush came into his room with the distinctive wookiee mask on, Austin knew exactly what had happened.

"Wait, wait - we got a heart? Do we seriously have a heart?" he said.

Austin did indeed have a heart - and it arrived ready for transplant just hours later. The operation went well and Austin could be home within the month.

Dr Thrush says being able to tell patients good news was one of the best parts of the job - even when he has to do it as a wookiee.

"I love it. This is the best part of what I do," he said.

"To be able to go and tell a family and a child that they're going to have a new chance at life and a new heart is the most amazing thing that I do."

Austin's mother, Mary Anglin, says the new heart is a miracle after previously having to consider that he wasn't going to make it without the transplant.

"We had some deep, dark conversations," she said. "At the age of 15 you understand what's going on."

Now he's had the transplant, Austin's thinking about what he wants to do long-term. According to Ms Anglin, he wants to be a paediatric cardiologist.

Newshub.