Five-month-old Hannah Dombrowski of Wilmington needs a new heart, and she needs it fast.
Hannah is one of three children younger than a year old on the waiting list for a heart transplant in North Carolina.
Her father, David Dombrowski, said Hannah was given 1A status – the highest priority for a heart transplant. Only 25 children younger than a year old who are awaiting heart transplants in the United States have priority status 1A like Hannah, a national database shows. And only one of those children is in North Carolina. The database does not name the children.
Under Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network policies, 1A priority is assigned to heart transplant patients admitted to a hospital and who have a life expectancy of one week for adults and two weeks for children.
Hannah and her parents have been waiting since Feb. 23. When the transplant occurs is out of their hands.
"We won't know until an organ becomes available," David said. "It could become available tomorrow or a month from now."
Hannah's mother, Audrey Dombrowski, wrote in an online letter to supporters about the anguish transplant parents face:
"Lord, how do you pray for something like this? In order for Hannah to survive, some Mother has to lose her child. We know the Lord is the healer and it is now in His hands."
Read more: http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20120419/ARTICLES/120419600/1177?Title=Five-month-old-waiting-for-new-heart
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