The 14-year-old from Upper Austria urgently needed a new heart to survive. However, during the transplant she suffered several strokes. She had to be resuscitated several times and hovered between life and death for days. Due to organ failure, she now requires regular dialysis and requires a wheelchair. Your parents’ house needs to be renovated to make it accessible to the disabled.
The medical history of 14-year-old Anna from the Linz-Land district is full of tragedies. The student managed to jump from the shovel of death several times.
“I admire her enormously, she has an incredibly strong personality,” says mother Sandra (38) enthusiastically. She has been concerned about her daughter’s health since Anna’s birth, when she was born with a serious heart defect (hypoplastic left heart syndrome).
Resuscitated several times
But over the past year and a half, things have really gotten dramatic. Anna’s heart barely functioned, she had to be resuscitated several times and her only chance of survival was a transplant.
“On April 2, the call finally came that there was a heart. We immediately drove to Vienna, where the operation started at 3:30 p.m..” The operation lasted until 5:30 am and initially everything looked positive. “The new heart beat immediately and did not require any support.”
Four days later, Anna was awakened from a deep sleep, but she was confused and coughing violently. While her upper body was very restless, the girl did not move her legs. “I immediately thought something was wrong,” says Sandra, who alerted the doctors.
An MRI confirmed her suspicions: Anna had suffered strokes in the brain and in the spinal canal of the spine during the transplant. The result: incomplete spinal cord injury from the pelvis downwards.
Organversagen
Coughing attacks may have caused a blood vessel to open in an artery at the back of the lung. Anna lost a lot of blood and needed large amounts of blood. Her lungs, liver and kidneys were failing. “The doctors said there was nothing more they could do in terms of intensive care. It is now up to Anna whether she can do it.”
The girl spent 13 weeks in intensive care and bravely fought her way back. But on the eve of May 1, serious heart fibrillation suddenly occurred, Anna went into cardiac arrest, needed 13 shocks with the defibrillator and was resuscitated four times. The 14-year-old survived that too.
Open wounds and constant nausea
After seven months in the hospital, she and Sandra were finally able to go home, where their sister (17) was eagerly waiting for them. However, Anna needs blood regularly, her immune system is low, she needs dialysis, has open wounds from lying down for a long time and has to vomit several times a day.
Unfortunately, for single parent Sandra, the concerns do not go away: the house needs to be renovated to make it accessible to the disabled. Estimated costs: 90,000 euros.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
