Heart swap for former vice president Dick Cheney after two years on list

Mr Cheney, 71, waited nearly two years for his new heart, the gift of an unknown donor.

An aide to Mr Cheney disclosed the surgery after it was over, and said the ex-vice president was recovering at a Virginia hospital.

“Although the former vice president and his family do not know the identity of the donor, they will be forever grateful for this lifesaving gift,” aide Kara Ahern said in a written statement.

Mr Cheney was recovering at the intensive care unit of Inova Fairfax Hospital after surgery earlier in the day.

The former vice president suffered a heart attack in 2010, his fifth since the age of 37.

That same year, he had surgery to have a small pump installed to help his heart keep working.

In January 2011, Mr Cheney said he was getting by on the battery-powered heart pump, which made it “awkward to walk around”.

In 1988, he had quadruple bypass surgery, two artery-clearing angioplasties and the operation to implant a pacemaker, a device that monitored his heartbeat.

In 2005, Mr Cheney had six hours of surgery on his legs to repair an aneurysm, and in March 2007, doctors discovered deep venous thrombosis in his left lower leg.

In July 2007, he had had a minor surgical procedure to replace the pacemaker.

Mr Cheney served as former President George W Bush’s vice president for eight years, from 2001 until 2009.