East Timor man Marciano Belo was a 25-year-old with the heart of an 80-year-old before a life-saving operation at Melbourne's MonashHeart.
Mr Belo had surgery on Monday to replace two heart valves severely affected by rheumatic fever, with mechanical valves.
The illness is virtually wiped out in the west, but common in developing countries.
It caused Mr Belo's left inlet valve to be narrowed and leaky, while the left outlet valve was also severely leaky resulting in a very enlarged heart.
Warrnambool cardiologist Noel Bailey, who is a medical advisor to East Timor Hearts Funds, which paid for Mr Belo's trip, identified him as a candidate for surgery during a trip to East Timor in July.
"Marciano was on borrowed time when I saw him in Dili in July," he said.
"Without medical assistance, which is unavailable in East Timor, he had very limited life-expectancy."
Dr Bailey said heart disease this severe in such a young patient would be rare in Australia, but not uncommon in developing countries like East Timor.
Through an interpreter, Mr Belo said the heart disease caused him to suffer dizziness and breathing problems.
Every day things like going to school and going out with friends were difficult for him, he said.
He believed that without the surgery, he would have died, but he now looks forward to going back to school, studying and working in East Timor.
MonashHeart cardiac surgeon Andrew Cochrane, who performed the five-hour surgery, said Mr Belo should be able to enjoy a normal life.
"His prognosis should be very good in the long term," he said.
He said that while he performs several heart surgeries a week, he would probably see one case a year as severe as Mr Belo.
"It makes me feel very pleased to be able to offer him that chance to get on, study and to be able to live a normal life," he said.
Mr Belo is expected to stay in hospital for a week and should be able to fly back to East Timor just before Christmas.
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