A Spanish girl just over a year old underwent the world’s first successful surgery for an intestine transplant from a donor who died of heart failure, La Paz Hospital in Madrid said on Tuesday.
And the hospital added in a statement, “The baby has now been released and is in excellent condition at home with her parents.”
Spain is one of the world’s leading countries in organ transplants, with more than 102 operations per million people taking place in 2021, a rate that only the United States has exceeded, according to data from the Spanish Ministry of Health.
Baby Emma was diagnosed with intestinal failure when she was just one month old because her intestines were too short, and her health rapidly deteriorated until she underwent a multi-viscera transplant.
Other than the intestines, Emma also got a liver, stomach, spleen and pancreas.
“The good news is that life goes on and Emma is very brave and proves every day that she wants to keep living,” her mother told reporters before thanking the donor’s family and doctors. She said Emma is now 17 months old.