> Would they only use hearts that were kept pumping right up until they were surgically removed from the donor? Correct. I went through this with a family memb

> Would they only use hearts that were kept pumping right up until they were surgically removed from the donor? Correct. I went through this with a family member who was struck by a car and later declared brain-dead in hospital—but his heart was still beating, and thus a candidate for heart donation. We said our final goodbyes before he was wheeled away for surgery, heart still beating and looking as alive as ever. The anonymous recipient underwent surgery simultaneously in the same hospital, so presumably the heart only stopped beating for a very short period of time before it was re-started, and it continues on beating to this day (it's a funny feeling, knowing that).