The Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — The mother of a 10-year-old Pennsylvania girl whose efforts to qualify for an organ donation led to debate over how organs are allocated says she’s improving after her double-lung transplant.
Janet Murnaghan says on her Facebook page her daughter Sarah was moved on Wednesday from a heavy-duty breathing machine to a traditional ventilator. She calls that “a big step” toward being able to wake Sarah from the heavy sedation she’s been under since last week’s operation.
Sarah is from Newtown Square, just west of Philadelphia. She suffers from severe cystic fibrosis. She underwent a six-hour operation at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia after a judge intervened in her case and gave her a chance at the list of organs from adult donors, not just child donors.
Sarah’s family had said pediatric lungs are rarely donated.