“Jacques
was blessed with receiving a
heart transplant on
Saturday, 16 days after the
Berlin Heart was implanted.
I personally had the honor
of going to the hospital of
the donor heart and
participating in the removal
and transportation of the
donor heart. I was
fortunate to be a part of
removing the Berlin Heart
and Jacques’ horribly
damaged and battered heart.
I then observed the miracle
of placing the lifesaving
heart into his chest.
The first beat of the new
heart brought tears to the
eyes of those in the
operating room. We hope to
tell his story of the trauma
in New Orleans, flying to
LAX for the Berlin Heart,
receiving the heart
transplant, and ultimately
being discharged to home
with his Mom and Dad.
Thanks to Darren and Jet-Med
for getting us to the donor
hospital safely and
efficiently to bring this
precious heart home to
Jacques.”
Mary J McDaniel, RN
Vice President Patient Care
Services
800 Marshall Little Rock,
AR 72202
501.364.1392
mcdanielmj@archildrens.org
I
am the new Chief of
Cardiovascular Surgery at
Arkansas Children's
Hospital, as of November 1,
2005, and am writing to
express my extreme gratitude
and admiration for your
efforts to create the
world's first long distance
ECMO transportation system.
Bill Fiser and Carl Chipman
told me in some detail about
the amount of work and
ingenuity that have gone
into creating the system,
which is in itself quite
remarkable. Even more
remarkable, however, is the
extreme generosity you have
shown with your commitments
of time and resources to the
project. There is no doubt
in my mind that many
children who would otherwise
have died will live because
of you. This is a
magnificent achievement.
On behalf of the children
whom we will now be able to
help at Arkansas Children's
Hospital, I thank you. I
look forward to meeting you
in person.
Sincerely,
Robert D. B. Jaquiss, M.D.
Professor, Department of
Surgery
UAMS College of Medicine
Chief, Pediatric and
Congenital Cardiothoracic
Surgery - Arkansas
Children's Hospital
To view the actual
letter, click here.
