Most guys want expensive electronics for Christmas.

Justin Greene has all the electronics he needs. Now he wants something money can’t buy.

A pulse.

But a pulse requires a beating heart. All Greene has is a battery powered implant, called a left ventricular assist device, or LVAD, which keeps the 23-year-old Colorado Springs native alive until he gets a donor heart.

The LVAD is like a turbine engine pushing blood through his body. A tube from his stomach connects to a fanny-pack electronic controller around his waist with rechargeable battery packs on each side.

“I hook into a computer at night,” said Greene, who dubs himself “the bionic man.”

Even with all the contraptions, it’s an improvement over the function of his old heart, which was damaged from a virus Greene contracted about five years ago.

The LVAD is a temporary fix and, so far, it has worked wonders.

“I feel better,” Greene said from his parents’ home, where he’ll stay for several months. “It feels pretty amazing because it is doing all the work. It’s weird to not be able to feel my pulse.”

“He has color in his cheeks,” said his mother, Libby. “Now, it’s just a wait.”

Waiting is stressful, but it’s better than the vigil his family conducted for two months at the University of Colorado Hospital in Denver as his heart deteriorated.

“You never know from one moment to the next, it might the last time you see your child,” said his father, Rick.

Finally, three weeks ago, surgeons installed the LVAD in open-heart surgery.

The LVAD replaced a pacemaker defibrillator which, until recently, allowed Greene to continue the same athletic lifestyle as when he ran cross-country and track at Wasson High School.

While he waits, he is on medical leave from Dickinson Financial Corp. in Loveland. He took the job as a loan underwriter after his spring graduation from Colorado State University, where he studied corporate finance.

Clothes cover his electronics so he doesn’t even look sick. He takes short walks around the house. In a few weeks, he can drive. His favorite activities, daily biking and swimming, are out until he gets a donor heart.

It’s the closest he has come to ever being a coach potato.

“I’ve been reading and playing guitar,” Greene said. “It’s not the end of the world, I have my Xbox.”

The LVAD should keep him going until he gets a donor heart. He said he is near the top of the list.

“We’re hoping it’s a Christmas present this year,” his dad said. “All I want for Christmas is a heart.”

For Justin, it’s bittersweet because he knows someone has to die for him to live.

“Unfortunately, it’s the time of year they do the most transplants in Colorado,” he said. “I try not to think about it too much. It’s just so sad.”

Friends are hosting a benefit concert Sunday at Stargazers Theatre & Event Center to help with the expenses not covered by insurance.

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The free concert from 3-6 p.m. Sunday at Stargazers Theatre & Event Center, 10 S. Parkside Dr., includes a silent auction with many art and music items.Musicians include: Jim Adam and John Stilwagen, BJ Estares and Route 61, Acme Bluegrass Band, Joe Uveges, Rampart High School Advanced Jazz Band, Dale Miller, Vivian Gail and Doug Zinn.For information: call 648-3138 or 237-9751; www.stargazerstheatre.comDonations can be made to the Justin Greene Fund at any Wells Fargo Bank or mailed to Wells Fargo, 8620 N. Union Blvd., Colorado Springs, 80920.

—Call the writer at 636-0253.

Justin Greene, 23, is living with a battery powered mechanical heart as he awaits a donor heart. Around his waist he wears the control unit and two battery packs. KEVIN KRECK, THE GAZETTE. Photo by KEVIN KRECK, THE GAZETTE

Kevin Kreck