NEW CASTLE, Ind — From the looks of it, you wouldn’t guess Willis Yeoman is 90 years old.
While COVID-19 has changed Yeoman's routine lately, he still spends as much time as he can outside, operating his beloved skid loader and keeping up with his ten young great-grandchildren.
“I'm a stubborn old man,” he said, laughing.
That stubborn nature may be the very reason he’s still around.
“I had my first heart attack when I was 35 years old,” he said.
Yeoman would suffer three heart attacks and end up in heart failure by age 57. But the Korean War veteran was a fighter. In 1987, at three years shy of 60, he decided he’d fight for a new heart.
“(My doctor) said ‘you'd be a wonderful candidate, except you're too old,’” Yeoman recalled.
But Willis would not take no for an answer. He did his own research and pointed out to his doctor that the procedure had recently been done on someone even older.
The doctor looked into it and changed his mind.
“The evening of December 27, they called and told us they had his heart,” said Yeoman’s daughter, Anita.
Yeoman was taken to IU Health University Hospital and had a new heart the next day.
“I've always claimed that that was our Christmas miracle,” Anita said.
The gift of life that has been ticking for 33 years and counting. And that, doctors say, is nothing short of incredible.
“How he has done all these years, it's pretty remarkable,” said Dr. Roopa Rao, Yeoman’s cardiologist for the last ten years.
Back in 1987, a new heart was barely expected to last a decade. Yeoman has lived that three times over... and counting.
“Even after nearly 33 years this December, his heart is very strong,” said Rao.
“I owe it all to the people in the medical profession,” said Yeoman. “They've been a wonderful bunch of people to me and given me some real real good advice and I love 'em all!”
Yeoman’s cardiac team credits his lengthy survival, in part, to eating healthy, taking care of himself and maintaining a positive attitude.
“I live day to day, am thankful for all the help I've had along the way,” he said.
Yeoman is IU Health’s oldest living heart transplant recipient.
“I feel like he's an inspiration and a hope for our transplant patients,” said Rao.
The gift of life for the Yeoman family each and every year.