Robert Zackin, of the Harvard School, in the U.S., became infected with HIV in 1986 and was diagnosed with AIDS in 1992. He was put on antiviral drugs to keep the AIDS in check, but the drugs themselves can have devastating side effects and damage vital organs like the heart and the liver. For Zackin, side effects from the drug daunorubicin apparently led to heart problems. By 2000, he needed a heart transplant. By then, his heart was so weak that a balloon pump had to be implanted in his aorta to keep him alive. Three weeks later, he got a heart transplant at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ohio. Two years post transplant, he was alive and well. Zackin’s survival offers hope to other patients with AIDS needing transplants.