Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 9, 1995 TAG: 9507100114
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: D-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
PEGGY VIERS
Viers, of Pulaski County, received her new heart in March 1994. ``I have been doing just great,'' she said. ``I have been able to do things I haven't been able to do in 20 years.''
Viers said she spends most of her time working in her garden and painting with her husband, Don.
``Sometimes it gets hard,'' she said, referring to minor rejection spells and the medications she has to take. But she said her husband helps her through these times. ``He's always there, he's my backbone.''
MATTHEW BURGE
Burge, then a student at Salem High School, went into cardiac arrest Feb. 18, 1991, was resuscitated by fellow students and received a transplant five weeks later.
He and his family have moved to North Carolina, where his father, Randy, works for NationsBank. ``He's doing fine,'' said his father. Burge just completed his sophomore year at the University of North Carolina, where he is studying economics and participates in intramural sports.
MICHELLE ``PETIE'' LINEBERRY RUTLEDGE
Rutledge was a 20-year-old student at Radford University when she received her transplant. On June 13, she celebrated nine years with her new heart.
``My heart is doing wonderfully,'' she said from California, where she is spending the summer with her sister.
Rutledge said weight loss had forced her to stop working, and she is receiving disability payments. ``I got very petite,'' she said. ``I'm trying to work on that.''
Although she has occasional complications with her medication, ``I always look at the positive,'' she said. ``I've never had a major rejection spell.''
by CNB