Ohio’s 11-year-old Ava Cooper is back home after a heart transplant saved her life following 200 days in the hospital.
After more than 200 days in the hospital, 11-year-old Ava Cooper of Ohio has returned home following a successful heart transplant. Ava, who was born with multiple heart defects, had undergone several surgeries since infancy. Her condition worsened last year, forcing her to remain at Cleveland Clinic Children’s until a donor heart became available in March.
“Daddy, I’m getting a heart,” Ava told her father when the long-awaited call came. According to her mother, Jamie Cooper, “Ava was literally bouncing with joy. She wasn’t a bit nervous the day of her transplant.”
Doctors said further surgery on Ava’s heart would not have secured her long-term health, making a transplant her only option. Her surgeon, Dr. Hani Najm, described the procedure as giving her “a new lease on life.”
Now back in school and playing with her younger sister, Ava’s recovery has inspired her family to advocate for organ donation.