Former Great Bend resident Brent Tiede received a successful heart transplant this week, and is recovering at St. Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City, Mo.

Tiede, 38, who now lives in Maize, is a 1991 graduate of Great Bend High School. He has known for years he would eventually need a heart transplant, after bring diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, a condition in which the heart beats rapidly because of abnormal, extra electrical pathways between the heart’s upper and lower chambers, in 1995.

St. Luke’s called the Tiede home at 4:39 p.m. Sunday, and he checked in around 8 that evening. He said he went into surgery at 5:30 a.m. Monday, and the operation was done by 8 a.m. When visiting online Thursday with a Great Bend Tribune reporter, Tiede said he felt "great." He hopes to go home next Tuesday.

"I am recovering well," Tiede said, adding KAKE television reported he set a record for the 43rd heart transplant this year at St. Luke’s. The hospital’s cardiac transplant program is the only one of its kind in the region.

A fund to help Tiede and his family with expenses has been set up at Credit Union of America. Donations in his name may be made at the credit union’s branch in Great Bend.