Summary: In Los Angeles a woman with the name of Andrea Ybarra, was donated a heart that was beating before the doctors even transplanted it. This is a new operation that has been mostly done in Europe, but now it has been brought in the States and seems to be working with positive effects. Usually when organs are transported for donations, they are put into and ice box, if you will, and a chemical is injected into it to make it stop functioning and stay preserved. Although the doctors don't have much time to get it into the donor patient. The organs only stay fresh up to 4 to 6 hours. This also means that when someone needs an organ they can't look too far away for a donor because of the minimal time gap. The longer it takes for the transplant to occur the greater the chances are for death or disease of the patient. Now, specifically for hearts, they have found a way to get around the problem. Recently hearts have been placed in a box where blood is pumped through it and it is kept warm. This way it never stops functioning and there is more time for the transplant to take place. If experts are able to preserve hearts longer it could greatly change the field.Opinion: I think that this new discovery is fantastic! What a break-through in science. Many more people are going to be able to find donors because they will be able to look farther away from home. There will also be less risks because the heart never stops beating; when it gets put into the patient, it feels like the heart has always been a part of them and that they feel as good as new. Therefore, I think this new discovery is an all around win. Something like this has needed to happen for awhile. It may also make people more willing to donate their organs. If there is a greater chance of knowing that their organs will be able to be used, they will more than likely be more willing to donate. I know that I am signed up to be an organ donor and I only hope that someday I can save someones life. With this new found technology there is a greater chance that my heart could save somebody and that make me really happy, I'm sure as well as the people on the donor waiting list. It's a beautiful thing.
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