From left, Ray and Rahn Bentley sit with Rahn's sons Harley and Jordan, and Spectrum Health Cardiothoracic Surgeon Ashgar Khaghani Tuesday during a press conference at Spectrum Health Hospital about Rahn's heart transplant.GRAND RAPIDS – Both the recipient and the wife of the donor of Grand Rapids' first heart transplant said today they would be open to meeting each other.
Rahn Bentley, who underwent the first heart transplant Nov. 27, said “I would definitely like to sit down with her and talk.”
Peggy Korzen, the wife of the organ donor, Tim Korzen, said she and her sons would “absolutely” like to meet Bentley.
“To sit down for yourself and to see the person who has your husband's or dad's heart would be really nice for us,” she said. “You could really see the help it's providing.”
Bentley, 50, spoke to the media after being discharged from Spectrum Health's Meijer Heart Center. His voice breaking with emotion, he called Tim Korzen, “the ultimate hero” and praised Peggy Korzen for talking publicly about the organ donation. He also said he was creating a foundation, and the foundation's first financial gift will be a college fund for Korzen's sons, Adam, 11, and Jason, 6.
Korzen, who read Bentley's comments online, said she was overwhelmed by Bentley's praise and his plan for the college fund.
Rahn Bentley, 50, of Kentwood, describes how it felt when he woke up with a new heart during a press conference Tuesday at Spectrum Health Hospital as surgeon Dr. Ashgar Khaghani, left, and cardiologist Dr. Michael Dickinson, right, listen. Bentley became Spectrum's first heart transplant recipient when he received the heart of Ada Township resident Tim Korzen in an 8-hour operation at Spectrum Health's Meijer Heart Center on Nov. 27 and into the early hours of Nov. 28.“That was just a complete shock,” Korzen said. “You don't go into this kind of thing thinking about what am I going to get out of this.”
She said her concern was honoring her husband's wishes as an organ donor and seeing that some good can come from the family's loss.
“We had a great family life,” she said. “It's hard for us to imagine things without Tim. That is really tough.”
But she said her husband was “all about helping other people,” and encouraging organ donation is a way to honor his giving nature.
“I think it's really important,” she said. “Anything we can do to get the word out can benefit so many people down the road.”
Bentley also said he is writing a book about his experience and hopes to publish it a year after his surgery, on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
“The idea is to name that day 'Red Heart Saturday,'” he said. “We plan to have deals set up with retailers to give discounts in lieu of donations to anyone who shows the organ donor symbol on their license.”
Donations will go to the Off to See the Wizard Foundation, which Bentley is creating to encourage organ donation. The goal is to double the number of people on Michigan's donor list, he said. The foundation will also provide financial help to the families of organ donors and transplant recipients.
Although Bentley was to be discharged from the hospital Friday, his release was delayed by a small hernia at the site of Left Ventricular Assist Device, said Dr. Asghar Khaghani, the head transplant surgeon.
Repairing it was “a small procedure,” Khaghani said. “He gained back his previous strength quickly.”
Korzen said she was happy to hear Bentley was doing well and able to go home from the hospital. When she heard his release was delayed, she was worried about whether he had suffered a setback.
“We spent a lot of time thinking of him over the weekend and praying for him and hoping it wasn't a problem,” she said.
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