Baby First To Have Partial Heart Transplant Now A Thriving Toddler

“This was truly uncharted territory.”

That according to Dr. Joseph Turek at Duke Children’s Hospital who pulled off a first-of-its-kind partial heart surgery replacing arteries and valves in little Owen Monroe, who at the time was 17 days old. Within hours of birth, Owen was in stage 4 heart failure and was out of options. Mom asked doctors how many times they had done the procedure, and the reply was 5 piglets!

The success of Owen’s procedure has paved the way for 10 other babies to have it and hopefully have the same success. Doctors also hope there will be no other surgeries required as Owen continues to grow.