$100,000 Dollar Man Has No Pulse. Steve Austin Wants Sound Effects Back
Friday, December 15th, 2006
“Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to build the world’s first bionic man. Steve Austin will be that man. Better than he was before. Better, stronger, faster.”
All Gerard Langevin got was a mechanical heart.
The “Heartmate II” (which sounds more like a sexual attachment and looks more like it should be plumbed into a bath) was implanted into the 65-year-old Quebec man and provides a continuous flow of blood so the patient has no pulse. The $100,000 price tag was met by the hospital foundation as part of a clinical trial. The device can last up to 10 years.
“Mr. Langevin happens to be the only individual currently living in Canada without a pulse and without a measurable blood pressure,” said Dr. Cecere.
“I was finished. I had no time left. I probably had only a few months left to live,” Mr. Langevin said.