Heart transplant for Francisca Ovalle took more than five hours

SANTIAGO.- The surgical procedure to transplant a heart into the body of 11 year-old Francisa Ovalle took more than five hours. The girl had been placed at the top of the national organ waiting list.

"We have to wait five days to evaluate her condition because her body could reject the heart", the girl's mother, Paula Vergara, told Radio Cooperativa.

The girl is currently being cared for in the ICU of the Hospital Clínico of the Universidad Católica.

The organ was donated by the family of 16 year old Jorge Muñoz Yáñez, who died in the town of Los Angeles due to a brain aneurism that caused haemorrhaging.

"It is an intense amount of pain, yet they gave us happiness; they can think that the little heart of their son is beating inside my daughter's body", the girl's mother stated as she expressed her gratitude to the donor's family.

In addition to Francisca, who suffered from dilated miocardiopathy as well as kidney and liver damage, another two people benefited from the decision made by the Muñoz Yáñez family after receiving the corneas and kidneys of the deceased teenager.