Man talks about his triple transplant at UCSD’s Thornton Hospital

City News Service

A Vista man who met reporters Thursday at UCSD’s Thornton Hospital to thank donors is one of the few people in the world to have had three transplanted organs, if not the only one, according to officials with the medical center.

Frank Murdock, 53, had a lung transplant in 2000, and his heart and a kidney were replaced on June 26, the hospital’s Kim Edwards said.

The 17-year Navy veteran and father of an 11-year-old son began to suffer from a diseased right lung in 1993, leading to the transplant seven years later. Doctors reportedly anticipated that medication from that operation would eventually damage his heart, which would also result in kidney problems.

“It was like I was a walking time bomb,’’ Murdock told 10News.

Edwards, who called him “unique and rare,’’ said he could be discharged this weekend.

“To me, this is a miracle,’’ Murdock said in thanking organ donors.

“This is where they go — they go to veterans — they go to people who need them.’’