SAN DIEGO -- An experimental miniature heart pump has been implanted into a San Diego man, 10News reported.

Surgeons at Sharp Memorial Hospital said the procedure is an important first step that could one day save thousands of lives.

Landis Turner, 46, is trying to comprehend what has happened to him. After suffering an heart attack a month ago, his heart was left severely damaged.

A tiny pump called the Debakey Ventricular Assist Device is keeping Turner alive.

Dr. Walter Dembitsky, a Sharp cardiac surgeon, said, "We put this heart pump in and did additional surgery on his heart to correct irregular heart rhythm."

Surgeons at Sharp Memorial Hospital implanted the experimental device during a delicate emergency surgery about one month ago.

"We are waiting for a heart transplant for him now, so we are using it as a bridge (for the) transplant," Dembitsky said.

What's remarkable about the Debakey Heart Assist Device is the size. It weighs just four ounces and is one-tenth the size of other heart pumps.

The Debakey Heart Assist Device is based on technology NASA uses to pump fuel in space shuttles.

The pump is implanted into the chest cavity and attached to the heart. It helps pump blood from the left ventricle to the aorta and back into the body.

Turner is the first person in San Diego -- one of 51 people nationwide -- who have been implanted with the tiny device.

Turner said, "This is new for everyone. It's new for me. It's new for the doctors."

"He understands electronics and he's helping us to understand how to run the pump," Dembitsky said.

Because of its miniature size, the Debakey device has the potential to be used in smaller patients -- like children who are waiting for a heart transplant and other people whose hearts need extra help.

"We would be able to put these pumps into patients who have less severe heart failure and it could be utilized much like a pacemaker hopefully in the future," Dembitsky said.

Turner is grateful for a second chance while he waits for a donor heart.

"I hope this pump keeps me going for some years," Turner told 10News.