Today in our History August 21, 2001 - Robert Tools, the first man having a self-contained artificial heart implanted speaks National TV.

GM – LIF– Today’s American Champion is a Kentucky man with a self-contained artificial heart beating in his chest stepped into the public eye saying "I knew I had no more chances." This 59 year old, made medical history by getting the world's first self-contained artifical heart. He was introduced to the news media via closed circuit television at Jewish Hospital in Louisville, KY.

Remember - "Jewish didn't seek me out, I came to Jewish, because I was dying," he said. "We contacted Jewish and I came here and was accepted into the program. I asked for it because I knew I had no more chances to survive." – Robert Tools

Today in our History August 21, 2001 - Robert Tools, the first man to have a self-contained artificial heart implanted speaks for the first time on national television. The AbioCor artificial heart.

Tools had the titanium-and-plastic pump implanted in his chest July 2, but his name and face were unknown to the public until later.

His name had been so closely guarded that even the family's pastor and people who live on the same street said they didn't know he had undergone the experimental procedure.

Tools smiled as he said the whirring sound of the heart took some getting used to, but he liked it because he knew he was alive.

Before Tools' appearance, the hospital showed a video of a gaunt Tools opening cards and gifts at a recent birthday party in the hospital.

Tools, a diabetic with a history of heart problems, was deemed too ill to receive a heart transplant. Before the surgery, he was so weak he could take only a few steps at a time and couldn't raise his head to talk to his doctors. He was given only a slight chance of surviving 30 days.

The public appearance came nearly two weeks after Tools was put back on a ventilator to assist his breathing. He also developed an infection and was running a fever, but the mechanical heart continued to pump without problems.

Tools, a former telephone company employee and teacher, moved from Colorado five years ago, hoping to receive a transplant.

"I don't think dying has ever been an option with Bob," said Melony Scott, 34, a friend and neighbor of Tools in the Kentucky town of Franklin, about 45 miles north of Nashville and 140 miles south of Louisville.

Scott said Tools and his wife, Carol, moved into the neighborhood about the same time she did in 1996. "He'd walk over four or five times a day," she said in an interview at her home last week.

Scott said Tools would keep her company while she tended her outdoor plants. The last time he visited her, the walk across the residential street was excruciatingly slow.

Scott has not talked to Tools since he went to Louisville and did not specifically talk with him about the artificial heart. Nodding toward her front lawn, she said: "I'm sure I'll sit right out there and talk to him again."

A former neighbor, Joanne Hartmeister, who lives near Tools' former home in Morrison, Colorado, said Tools is a talented musician and cook and liked to go fishing.

Hartmeister said Tools had a bass boat that he kept parked on his property in Colorado so he could go fishing. "But he didn't get to much, nothing like he'd like to do," she said.

Tools had a computer-related job with the telephone company in Colorado, but left for health reasons, Hartmeister said. Scott said Tools had earlier been a special education teacher in Chicago.

Scott said Tools moved from Colorado to be close to doctors in Nashville while he awaited a heart transplant. According to Hartmeister, Tools thought the lower altitude would help.

But eventually he learned that the option of a heart transplant was not open to him because of other health problems.

Scott said he despaired at first, but then, "looked at it like he had to prepare himself for the next option, which was Louisville."

"If anybody can ever do this, they picked the right person," she added. "He'll just tell you, 'Girl, I'm going to whip this.'"

Doctors have said the patient jokes with his doctors and nurses, takes strolls in the hospital, listens to jazz CDs and watches videotapes.

Dr. Laman Gray, one of the surgeons who implanted the device, said a few days after the surgery that the patient had agreed to teach him how to bass fish.

The AbioCor artificial heart is self-contained, with an internal battery. Earlier mechanical hearts had wires and tubes that stuck out of the chest and connected to a power source. Robert L. Tools (July 31, 1942 – November 30, 2001) was the world's first recipient of a fully self-contained artificial heart, called AbioCor.

The operation took place on July 2, 2001. He survived for 151 days without a living heart. Dr. Joseph Fredi at Saint Thomas Hospital suggested the experimental procedure based on his knowledge of a research project by Abiomed. While recovering from surgery, Robert had the chance to enjoy some of his favorite past time hobbies, fishing and dining out. While at Jewish Hospital, Robert became renowned and received press throughout the world on shows like Cooking Network, Dateline, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and CNN. As a result of Robert's press, he received visits from Lt. Governors, The Oak Ridge Boys, and Muhammad Ali. While meeting with Ali, Tools earned the name "#1 Champ" because of his fight to survive.

Due to continued complications of abdominal bleeding and a stroke, Robert died November 30, 2001. Let your babies know about this great American Champion. Make it a champion day!