(ECNS) -- A 4-month-old Hong Kong girl underwent a lifesaving organ transplant thanks to a heart donated from the Chinese mainland on Saturday.
The baby was diagnosed with heart failure after 41 days of birth and had survived on a ventilator.
Her special physical condition required a donor weighing between 4.5 and 13 kilograms, which proved difficult to locate in Hong Kong.
Her mother appealed to the media for help, with the girl raising widespread attention across the city.
On Dec. 8, Chung-mau Lo, Secretary for Health of the Hong Kong SAR formally wrote to the National Health Commission and General Administration of Customs for assistance.
On Friday, the heart of a child who had died of severe head trauma on the mainland was determined suitable for donation. The National Health Commission, the mainland medical team, and customs rushed against time to deliver the heart to Hong Kong on Friday evening, with the medical team from Hong Kong Children's Hospital successfully completing the transplant in the early hours of Saturday.
This is the first organ transplant using a heart donated from the mainland in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).
The baby girl's parents expressed their gratitude to the donator's parents. They also thanked the efforts jointly made by the medical team and government, saying "this is a miracle".
Chief Executive of the HKSAR John Lee said the heart was the smallest ever to be transplanted in Hong Kong, and that mainland and Hong Kong authorities had overcome many challenges to make it happen, according to Xinhua.
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