{"id":20871,"date":"2025-06-28T04:18:08","date_gmt":"2025-06-28T04:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/20871\/"},"modified":"2025-06-28T04:18:08","modified_gmt":"2025-06-28T04:18:08","slug":"third-heart-transplant-gives-patient-new-purpose-at-mayo-clinic-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/20871\/","title":{"rendered":"Third heart transplant gives patient new purpose at Mayo Clinic Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.<\/strong> \u2013 Forty-one days of pacing hospital halls at Mayo Clinic Florida led Goffrey Duevel to a single moment. It\u2019s an experience he\u2019s gone through before, and 41 days isn\u2019t the longest he\u2019s had to wait, but it is a wait nonetheless.<\/p>\n

A wait that would make the 46-year-old, who jokes about his \u201csick affection\u201d with hospitals, the facility\u2019s first three-time heart transplant recipient.<\/p>\n

Goffrey Duevel in the hospital ahead of his third heart transplant. (Goffrey Duevel)A Lifetime of Heart Challenges<\/b><\/p>\n

Duevel\u2019s relationship with hospitals began at age five when doctors diagnosed him with non-Hodgkin\u2019s lymphoma. The chemotherapy and radiation treatment eventually led to complications – heart problems that would shape his future.<\/p>\n

His first heart transplant came in 2008. Five years later, in 2013, he needed a second. When asked about the possibility of a third transplant, Duevel admitted his initial reluctance. <\/p>\n

Goffrey Duevel after his second heart transplant in 2013. (Goffrey Duevel)<\/p>\n

\u201cHad a colleague ask me one time \u2018If you had to get another one would you do it?\u2019\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

For some time, his answer was \u201cno.\u201d<\/p>\n

But early 2025 brought declining health and a difficult choice. Duevel found himself at Mayo Clinic Florida, confronting the possibility of a third transplant. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do I want out of life? What do I want to achieve?\u201d he remembered asking. \u201cAll those things come in, and if I don\u2019t do this, then it\u2019s the end. I have no other alternatives. It made the decision for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Wait and the Gift<\/b><\/p>\n

For those 41 days, Duevel made the hospital halls his temporary home, as he had several times before. Then Dr. Parag Patel, Chair of Advanced Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplant at Mayo Clinic Florida, pulled him aside. A compatible heart had been found.<\/p>\n

Goffrey Duevel walking the halls of Mayo Clinic Florida (Goffrey Duevel)<\/p>\n

The surgery is one of Mayo Clinic Florida\u2019s 42 heart transplants of 2025, following their previous year\u2019s total of 67 procedures. But this one was different – it was their first-ever third heart transplant on a single patient.<\/p>\n

Finding New Purpose<\/b><\/p>\n

Six weeks after surgery, Duevel is able to walk several blocks. His sights are set on camping in Minnesota this fall.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe as a community, healthcare and just humanity are able to do so many wonderful things for each other if we choose to,\u201d Duevel said. \u201cI think that gets lost sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Patel said he believes Duevel\u2019s story will help future patients and serve as a case study for those who need additional transplants. <\/p>\n

Goffrey Duevel receives third heart transplant, finds new purpose in life (WJXT)<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was able to share some of these difficult situations and translate them into hope,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been able to change our attitude from \u2018why\u2019 to \u2018why not.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that Duevel\u2019s journey is \u201caffecting lives he\u2019ll never meet.\u201d<\/p>\n

To others facing similar challenges, Duevel offers straightforward advice: \u201cDon\u2019t try to do it alone.\u201d <\/p>\n

And as each day brings new meaning as he balances future goals with the present, his advice remains simple: \u201cLive the moment every moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Forty-one days of pacing hospital halls at Mayo Clinic Florida led Goffrey Duevel to a…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":20872,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5136],"tags":[5229,3188,723,4512,7310,19400,19401,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-20871","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-fl","10":"tag-florida","11":"tag-heart","12":"tag-jacksonville","13":"tag-mayo-clinic","14":"tag-transplant","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-united-states-of-america","17":"tag-unitedstates","18":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","19":"tag-us","20":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114759067513303111","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20871"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20871\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}