Heart Transplant Patient in Good Spirits; Donor Mourned

The man who underwent the first heart transplant in Orange County was in “very good spirits” Saturday and spent much of the day propped up in bed, talking to family members and hospital staff, a spokeswoman for UCI Medical Center said.

The 26-year-old musician, whose name has not been released, is improving, spokeswoman Elaine Beno said. His surgical team was so pleased with his recovery that they moved him from an isolation area to the regular intensive care unit, she said.

Although his condition was listed as “critical but stable,” his prognosis is good, she said. He could be released from the hospital in 17 to 21 days.

Dr. Richard Ott, the cardiac surgeon who headed the transplant team that performed the operation Friday, and the patient’s family have requested that the patient remain anonymous, Beno said.

“They feel that if his name was revealed, it would distract the family, which would be giving interviews, rather than concentrating their support” on him, she said.

Beno said she believes the patient knows his new heart came from Staff Sgt. Richard William Bottjer of Placentia, 30, a flight information specialist at El Toro Marine Air Station. Bottjer was declared brain-dead after he was hurt in a brawl outside a Fullerton restaurant early Thursday morning. The county coroner’s office said he died of a head injury.

Family, friends, and Marine personnel gathered Saturday at the Ontario home of Robert Bottjer, Richard’s brother, to mourn their loss but take solace in the life his heart was saving.

“Ricky had wanted to donate his heart and organs if something like this happened,” Robert Bottjer said. “He always cared for people. He was a very giving person.

“Our family is very supportive and proud of what Ricky did. . . . He made possible the first heart transplant in Orange County, and all of us in the family are very proud to hear that.”

The Bottjers do not know who the heart recipient is, Robert Bottjer said.

“But we’ve been told that we’ll hear every six months how he’s doing,” Bottjer said.

Richard Bottjer, an 11-year veteran of the Marine Corps, had been stationed at El Toro for the past year, his brother said.

He joined the Marines in 1977 right after graduating from Smithtown High School on New York’s Long Island, said his father, Ralph Bottjer.

“Ricky joined the Marines because he wanted to be with the best,” he said.

As a child, Ralph Bottjer said, Richard “was interested in Boy Scouts and ice hockey. He was trying to get his own son, Brent, who’s now 3, interested in hockey.”

A month ago, Richard Bottjer and his wife, Sandy Pearson of Anaheim, were divorced, family members said.

Ralph Bottjer, a civilian employee with the Navy on Long Island, arrived with his wife, Julie, at John Wayne Airport on Friday to make funeral arrangements for Richard, the youngest of their two children.

Services are scheduled for 11 a.m. Wednesday at the main chapel on the El Toro base. Burial at a military cemetery in Riverside County will follow.

Robert Bottjer said he last talked with his brother Wednesday, just hours before the fatal bar fight.

“It was about 7 p.m. Wednesday, and I had called him to tell him that my wife’s father had died. He said he was sorry to hear it and said he would be coming to the funeral.”

Twelve hours later, Robert Bottjer got a call from St. Jude Hospital in Fullerton informing him that his brother was brain-dead and was on life-support systems.

“When I saw him in the hospital room, I was in a state of shock,” Bottjer said.

Police said that Wednesday night, Richard Bottjer was with Marine buddies at Baxter’s Restaurant in the 2400 block of East Chapman Avenue celebrating the 30th birthday of a friend.

Fullerton police said the men were watching a “hot legs” contest when “some kind of verbal altercation” broke out just after midnight between them and some athletes from Cal State Fullerton, which is across the street from Baxter’s.

The argument turned into a fistfight, which continued across the street, where Bottjer was knocked to the ground, police said. Only hands were used in the scuffle, police said.

Police are treating Bottjer’s death as a homicide, but no arrests had been made late Saturday.

Ed Carroll, athletic director at Cal State Fullerton, said Saturday, “Until I know more facts, I can’t make any kind of comment.

“The death is a terrible thing to happen . . . but it would be inappropriate to comment until we know the facts.”

Cal State Fullerton football coach Gene Murphy said: No comment. I’ve been advised by the university and the police not to comment until it is taken care of.

“It’s tragic. The loss of anybody’s life is tragic, and when your kids are involved, it’s tragedy.”

Times staff writer Robyn Norwood contributed to this story.