Schroeder ‘Much Improved’

William J. Schroeder, the world’s longest-surviving mechanical heart patient, was reported “much improved” today after a stroke that involved part of the brain unaffected by two earlier strokes.

“His condition is listed as serious,” said Donna Hazle, a spokeswoman for Humana Hospital Audubon, where the 53-year-old Schroeder received his plastic and metal Jarvik-7 heart last Nov. 25. “He is now alert and is moving his left side better than (he did Monday).”