A heart transplant was successfully carried out on a six-year-old girl in Ukrainian capital Kyiv amid constant danger of Russian missiles, reported CNN. The procedure was reportedly carried out on Sunday (July 9) at Heart Institute of Ukraine’s Ministry of Health. The operation lasted for three hours and the girl was given heart of a four-year-old boy who was previously declared brain dead due to aneurysm.
“The operation was also unique in that both the donor and the recipient were very young children, and the transplant required more effort from the doctors,” it said, as quoted by CNN.
“The operation went well, and the new heart is beating in the girl’s chest,” Oksana Dmytrieva, chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament’s subcommittee on modern medical technologies and transplantation development, said in an emotional post on Facebook.
Boy’s mother hears the heartbeats
The images released by the institute showed mother of the boy whose heart was donated standing by the bedside of the girl.
“Many thanks to the parents of the little angel, who made an extremely noble act in this extremely difficult time for the family! You are people with a big and kind heart!” Dmytrieva said as quoted by the CNN.
Ukraine is currently at war with Russia which invaded the country in February last year. Many cities, including the capital Kyiv, have been bombarded by Russia.
In Kyiv hospitals, if air-raid sirens begin blaring after an operation has commenced, it is not stopped. In case the air raid sirens are sounded before the commencement of an opeartion, the doctors wait for all clear before starting the procedure.
After sustained gains in the initial months of the Ukraine invasion, Russian forces have had to retreat from large swathes of land. Ukraine is being backed by the West, led by the US, which has poured millions and millions in humanitarian as well as military aid.
