Transplant patient Carroll dies at 36

Patrick Carroll hugs his kids Jazzlyn (left) and Robbie. (Contributed photo).

WATSONVILLE — Watsonville resident Patrick Carroll, the family man and monster truck enthusiast who caught the attention of the community in 2010 when he became an organ donor ambassador while awaiting a heart transplant, died Tuesday at Stanford Medical Center. He was 36.

Carroll was born with a congenital heart defect, known as transposition of the great vessels, in which the two major vessels that carry blood away from the heart -- the aorta and the pulmonary artery -- are switched. This results in a shortage of oxygen flowing from the heart to the rest of the body. In an attempt to put his condition into layman’s terms, he told the Register-Pajaronian in September 2010, “The plumbing in my body is backwards.”

During the interview, Carroll said he hoped his new heart would give him an opportunity he didn’t have while he was sick: “Being able to play with my kids.”

For the complete article see the 04-12-2012 issue.

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