Heart donation comes just in time to save 7-month-old Alaska boy
A seven-month-old boy from Alaska had almost lost his life to heart failure when he received his life back soon, thanks to a last-minute transplant that reached well in time. Lincoln Seay was waiting for five months for heart transplant and suffered cardiac arrest.
On July 14, baby Lincoln Seay took birth with a severe defect, due to which his heart was on the wrong side of his body. He waited for months for a heart transplant, and minutes before its arrival at the Seattle Children’s Hospital, Lincoln lost life.
Mindy Seay, Lincoln's mother, said on her YouCaring page, “He died. He was out of time. While they were prepping him for surgery, he coded. His heart stopped. They did CPR and chest compressions without success”.
However, the strong determination of the surgeon saved the life of the infant, after opening the chest of the baby early and pressing the heart hard with his own hands until the arrival of the new organ.
The staff of the hospital acted efficiently, opening the chest of the boy for manual compressions in 12 minutes. Typically the process takes over 60 minutes.
Mindy said that the rapid thinking and instant step brought Baby Lincoln back to life within time for the successful heart transplant.
On February 24, his mother wrote that post surgery the days have been vague, and that her son has done so well and his heart is very strong.
A day before the surgery, the body of Lincoln was purple, but it came to normal post transplant.
While speaking to the Seattle Times, Rob Seay, the boy’s father said that in last two days, there was just one response that they were his last days.
Though since November baby Lincoln possessed highest priority status on the waiting list, his parents stayed patient for three months waiting for a potential donor. Doctors and parents received many close calls for Lincoln, who has reached at end stage heart failure.