The Philadelphia girl who paved the way for future in-need children to get adult lung transplants has taken her first breaths after a second attempt at the procedure.
Sarah Murnaghan, a 10-year old suffering from end-stage cystic fibrosis, almost didn't receive new lungs because of a policy that requires children to wait for new children's lungs to be available, or until every adult and adolescent on the waiting list has received a transplant, according to Bloomberg BusinessWeek via the AP.
The girl's parents successfully sued. The first procedure had complications, but Sarah seems to be recovering well from the second operation thus far.
Sarah's second transplant was not publicly disclosed at first.
"We were told ... that she was going to die. We weren't prepared to live out her dying in public," said Janet Murnaghan, Sarah's mother.
The girl will need to undergo yet another surgery due to issues with the earlier procedure. Her diaphragm was partially paralyzed and it won't let Sarah fully expand her lungs.
The procedure is scheduled for Monday.
"There's still a lot in front of us," Murnaghan said. "Sarah's a fighter. She's always been a fighter."
When Sarah could not get new lungs, her family along with the family of 11-year-old Javier Acosta challenged the policy prohibiting children from getting adult lungs before older people, even if they weren't as sick. The issue sparked a national debate.
A federal judge ruled the children should be able to receive new lungs.
Sarah's condition didn't look good after her first transplant, but a second set of lungs was found for her within three days. The second procedure was risky because the donor of the new lungs had once suffered from pneumonia.
"I think this very clearly illustrates that the decision needs to be scientific and medical, rather than judicial," said Lawrence O. Gostin, a health law professor at Georgetown University. "UNOS was under pressure from the publicity surrounding this case and the court's decision. It is highly unusual to get two transplants within days."
