A seven-month-old baby called Lincoln Seay received a heart transplant that saved his life after going into cardiac arrest twice. Doctors and relatives feared that the life of the newborn was ending, but the fear became hope once they were told a heart had become available.
Baby Lincoln was born with a rare birth defect which left his heart on the wrong side of the body. Since he was just 12 hours-born, the infant has been under multiple surgeries that did not end quite successfully.
After many surgeries, Lincoln’s heart still was not working properly and his doctors came to the conclusion that a heart transplant was needed for him to survive, as reported by ABC News.
Although the best efforts were put on his care and treatment while waiting for a transplant, Lincoln’s heart had begun to give out. His father said that he was really starting to decline, that he even had his first cardiac arrest but luckily doctors were able to revive him.
Doctors even started to think he was about to go in any time. His transplant surgeon, Dr. Michael McMullen, surgical director of heart transplantation at Seattle Children’s Hospital, said that he believed Lincoln did not have much time left.
“I think he was about to die on us, right before he fell off the edge, a heart became available,” added McMullen.
His mother, Mindy Seay, said that she experienced a roller coaster of emotions when the news that her baby will be receiving a heart arrived. “I was shocked, I was elated, I was sad for the other family. I had every emotion you could think of.”
The good news came, but Lincoln’s health was still pretty delicate. When the baby was being prepped for his transplant in the operating room, he went into cardiac arrest again, said McMullen.
They were able to quickly put him on the heart bypass machine that was set up for the transplant. McMullen added that the remarkable thing was they were able to put him on the machine incredibly fast, normally the procedure takes about two hours, but they succeeded in only 12 minutes while doing CPR on him.
His parents, Mindy and Rob Seay, are originally from Alaska but since Lincoln’s birth, they have been temporarily relocated to Seattle to offer their newborn the best shot at survival.
“He woke up thinking he was the Hulk”
After the long surgery, surgeons and parents noticed the remarkable change in Lincoln immediately. They described his color as different, pink and vibrant; and found that the baby had woken up with a lot of energy.
Rob Seay, Lincoln’s father, said the baby now can stay awake for hours and that he is no longer fatigued or falls asleep every half hour. Rob happily said that he now grabs his beard, face and does not know what to do with his own body.
Lincoln still remains at the hospital but McMullen said he is optimistic that he soon will be able to go home in the next few month. His parents said they are anxious to finally get their son home for good.
The Seay family now want to share their history with other people in similar position, so they can offer hope in their cases and raise awareness about organ donation.
Source: ABC News