National Wear Red Day has a special significance for New Jersey heart transplant patient Lisa Salberg, who is now using her old diseased heart to raise awareness about hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
The 49-year-old Rockaway Township resident walked into Newark Beth Israel Medical Center today, exactly one year after her surgery, with her old heart in hands with hopes of using it to educate others about the genetic disease that once plagued her and her family.
“She told us she would be back in one year with a plasticized version of her old heart and we welcomed her with open arms.” said Darrell K. Terry, Sr., President and Chief Executive Officer, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and Children’s Hospital of New Jersey. “Lisa Salberg is certainly a remarkable patient and advocate for heart failure patients and the importance of living a heart healthy lifestyle. She is one of more than 1,000 heart transplant patients at Newark Beth Israel and we are proud to support her work.”
According to hospital officials, Dr. Margarita Camacho, Surgical Director, Heart Transplant at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, performed Lisa Salberg’s life-saving transplant and accepted her rare request to keep her old heart.
Today, Salberg, founder of the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Association, is using that plasticized version of her heart to educate others about her disease, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
Photo Caption: Catherine Lapinski, Director of Nursing; Amy Doran, Chief Nursing Officer and VP of Patient Care Services; Lisa Salberg, Heart Transplant Recipient; Darrell K. Terry, Sr., President and Chief Executive Officer, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and Children’s Hospital of New Jersey; Patricia Mason, AVP, Emergency Services; and Jennifer Macheska, RN.