His friends call him the “Miracle Man” — and after suffering a heart attack, Anthony Cosentino is counting his blessings since receiving a heart transplant to save his life. But it wasn’t just any heart: he intentionally received one with hepatitis C. It’s been one year since the operation and Cosentino reunited with his doctors at Staten Island University Hospital on Tuesday.

“They both got me back on track and now I’m striving to get right back to being my regular self again,” Cosentino said. With new treatment to cure hepatitis C, these types of transplants are becoming more common. His doctors said with these new advances in science, more people are able to donate their organs, including IV drug-users in which hepatitis C is common, so that more lives can be saved.