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PHOTOS: Girl Lives With No Heart

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  • AP
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  • Nov. 19, 2008: Doctors at Holtz Children's Hospital in Miami physically removed the heart of 14-year-old D'Zhana Simmons. The South Carolina resident was kept alive for 118 days with a custom-made total artificial heart.
  • Nov. 19, 2008: Dr. Marco Ricci talks about the custom-made artificial total heart used to keep Simmons alive. The pumps of the artificial heart are typically used with a heart still in the chest to help the chambers circulate blood. With D'Zhana's heart removed, doctors at Holtz Children's Hospital crafted substitute heart chambers using a fabric and connected these to the two pumps.
  • Nov. 19, 2008: Simmons, who now has a new heart, sheds a tear of joy at a press conference in Miami.
  • Nov. 19, 2008: Simmons had two heart transplants and survived with artificial heart pumps - but no heart - for four months between the transplants. With her new heart in place, doctors say she'll be able to do most things that teens do, like attending school and going out with friends. She will be on lifelong medication to keep her body from rejecting the donated heart, and there's a 50-50 chance she'll need another transplant before she turns 30.

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