Can you imagine coming face to face with your own heart? This was the case of British Jennifer Sutton, 38 years old, who had to undergo a transplant at the age of 22 due to a disease called restrictive cardiomyopathy. She reports that finding the organ she was born with was surreal.
Restrictive cardiomyopathy is a disease that causes the walls of the heart ventricles to become rigid, which interferes with their functioning and can lead to death. Transplantation is the only solution. The British woman was reunited with the organ in a London museum – it is part of a permanent exhibition on anatomy.
“It is extremely surreal to see him. I definitely have an affection, even though he caused so many problems inside me”, he says, in an interview with the Daily Mail. “It’s like seeing an old friend. It reminds me of the past, and I hope that, in time, other people will look into my heart and consider organ donation,” says Jennifer.
She never met her donor — all she knows is that it was a 33-year-old man named Richard.
difficulties
The success of the operation was all the more significant because Jennifer’s mother died after a heart transplant when her daughter was just 13 years old. Jennifer realized that there was something wrong with her heart while she was at school, as her ability to play sports was less than that of other children.
“But nothing was done before I got into college. I was in sophomore year when a friend noticed that I struggled to climb hills, had blue skin and shortness of breath. My face would turn blue, as would my lips and fingers.”
Until one day, Jennifer was taken to the hospital with suspected heart failure. It was only then that she was diagnosed with the same condition her mother had, restrictive cardiomyopathy. The young woman started the treatment and entered the list to wait for an organ for transplant. In June 2007, she underwent surgery.
When she woke up from the procedure, Jennifer remembers feeling great. “I felt alive, my fingers had blood, my cheeks were hot and I could feel my heart beating for the first time,” she says. Currently, she is a forest ranger and enjoys hobbies like mountain climbing, something that was not possible before.
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