On a night he hoped his team would be playing in the Super Bowl, Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson got something better — a new heart.
Richardson, 72, underwent heart transplant surgery Sunday at Carolinas Medical Center, where he’d been on a waiting list since mid-December.
Richardson's surgery was confirmed Monday morning by team officials and by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
In a news release, the Panthers said the heart transplant procedure began about 8 p.m. Sunday and ended about 1 a.m.
Surgeons Mark Stiegel and Eric Skipper conducted the procedure, and Stiegel told the Panthers "the donor heart was working well."
Richardson was placed on the UNOS (United Network of Organ Sharing) heart transplant waiting list at Carolinas Medical Center in early December. He had not felt well through the fall and received a pacemaker/defibrillator in November. He had undergone coronary bypass surgery in October of 2002.
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