Woman’s Health Better on Second Jarvik Heart

TUCSON — Bernadette Chayrez, the first person to receive two artificial hearts, continued to show improvement Sunday, a spokeswoman for the University Medical Center said.

The 40-year-old Phoenix woman had a good night and was awake and alert, Jan Rooney said.

Chayrez, whose own heart was destroyed by a virus, received a mini-Jarvik heart pump on Feb. 3. It was replaced by a human heart four days later, but the donor heart failed and the second mechanical heart was substituted on Feb. 9.