14-year-old girl recovers after heart transplant

Kochi: Amani (Aman Mehnaaz, 14), a Class X student in Dubai, has got a new lease of life after a successful heart transplant surgery. She was discharged from Lisie Hospital on Thursday and will soon resume studies.Heart of Jayi Jayakumar of Kilimanoor, who was declared brain dead, was transplanted into Aman, daughter of Manoj and Nishitha from Changaramkulam, Malappuram. She had a disease where chambers on right side of heart developed abnormally. Last month, even after registering with state govt system K-SOTTO, they went to a hospital in Chennai seeking quicker heart availability. On the night of April 8, after receiving a notification from K-SOTTO, hospital authorities informed Aman's parents. They then flew from Chennai and arrived at Lisie hospital in the morning. At 4am on April 9, a medical team led by Dr Jeevesh Thomas, Dr Jo Joseph and Dr Arun George departed for Thiruvananthapuram and soon began the surgery to retrieve the heart. They departed from Thiruvananthapuram with the heart in a state govt-rented helicopter at 1.45pm and arrived in Kochi at 2.40pm. Transplant surgery began under the leadership of Dr Jose Chacko Periappuram within four minutes. By 5.30pm, the heart started beating again, and surgery was completed by 9pm.