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Change of Heart Over Found Organ

Authorities Believe It Was a Discarded Teaching Aid

Posted: 5:20 a.m. EDT October 15, 2003Updated: 5:05 a.m. EDT October 16, 2003

ATLANTA -- A heart found by a work crew on an interstate ramp in downtown Atlanta turned out to be a sheep's heart, officials said.

Fulton County medical examiners at first believed the organ, which was in a plastic bag with a bar code, was human -- probably improperly discarded medical waste.

It was found by an inmate road crew Tuesday on the Downtown Connector ramp to Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and turned over to the medical examiner's office.

On Wednesday, it was identified as a sheep's heart used as a teaching aid for medical students, pathologist Dr. Carol Terry said.

Copyright 2003 by WSBTV.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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