The self-healing mechanism of heart was demonstrated for the first time in a British girl, whose severely damaged heart started functioning on its own.

It all started in 1995, when Hannah Clark’s heart was diagnosed with major problems. At wit’s end, the British doctors devised a radical solution. They attached a donor heart to the ailing heart of the girl. The girl lived with two hearts for 10 years, when her damaged heart started functioning normally on its own. Finally, doctors were confident enough to remove the donor heart from her person.

However, her journey to recovery was not without pain and tears. The strong medicines she was forced to take to avoid rejection of the donor heart led to cancer and chemotherapy.

The entire story of Clark was published in the online medical journal Lancet on Tuesday.

It started in 1994, when Clark was just eight months old. Her heart failed completely, which led to complications in her lungs as well. As a heart and lung transplant was too risky, the doctors ventured into unknown territories to revive her.

Sir Magdi Yacoub, Imperial College, London, one of top heart surgeons in the world, opined that her heart would recover if given enough rest and time. And this is exactly what they did. They grafted a donor heart from a 5-month old onto Clark’s own heart. After four an half years, both the hearts were functioning normally. However, the doctors decided to leave the donor heart attached.

The powerful drugs took its toll and Clark was diagnosed with cancer. Even after lowering the dosage, the cancer started spreading and her body rejected the donor heart. Luck was on her side by then. Her own heart had started functioning perfectly well. Doctors removed the donor heart from her in 2006.

Now, Clark is a normal healthy 16-year old, attending school and playing sports like any teenager.
For more information, please visit the source of this article.