Sarah Murnaghan taking a ‘tiny step’ towards recovery
Sarah Murnaghan is shown before her transplant surgery. (Image courtesy of Murnaghan family.)
Sarah Murnaghan is making slow progress towards recovery after her lung transplant, according to her mother, Janet Murnaghan.
“Sarah made a tiny step in the right direction,” Janet posted on Facebook last night, “being able to back off some of her vent[ilator] settings in terms of her O2 requirements.” Murnaghan added that her daughter was still sedated and in critical condition.
The 10-year-old suffering from cystic fibrosis had a successful double-lung transplant last week at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The lungs came from an adult donor, marking a victory following her family’s highly public battle to get her moved to the list for adult organ donations instead of having to stay on the one for pediatric lungs.
The weeks-long fight has caused officials to reevaluate the way that donor organs are allotted. The national organization in charge of allocating donor organs has resisted creating an emergency exception to the rule barring children under 12 from the adult waiting list, but it has created an appeals and review process to handle situations on a case-by-case basis.
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