Boy Awaiting New Heart Requires Interim Surgery
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ORANGE — A 2-year-old boy who was flown from his home in Hawaii to Orange County with the hope of getting a heart transplant underwent surgery Monday to drain blood from around his defective heart.
Jason Jenette was in critical condition after the operation at the Children’s Hospital of Orange County, authorities said.
The child suffers from a congenital heart defect and needs a heart transplant to survive, doctors say.
The boy was flown into the county Sunday aboard a U.S. Coast Guard C-130 cargo plane because the life-support machine he was attached to limited his ability to travel on commercial aircraft.
Jason will stay connected to a heart-lung machine while hospital officials search for a heart donor.
Doctors say that he can remain in that condition for about three to four weeks.
If a donor is found, Jason will be transferred to Loma Linda University Medical Center for the transplant surgery.
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