The Heart Beat 5 Times… Then Stopped

What happens to a donor heart after it leaves the body, and what does it feel like to be the person responsible for getting it to its recipient?In this episode of Device Girls, Sarah and Haley sit down with Alan O’Donnell, a pediatric heart procurement and congenital heart reconstruction PA, for a look inside a side of organ donation most people will never see.Alan walks through the heart procurement and transplant process, the race against the clock once a heart is removed, and the responsibility of personally staying with a donor heart until it is implanted and beating again. He also shares the unforgettable case of a donor heart that appeared perfectly healthy, until it beat just a few times after transplant and suddenly stopped.It’s a conversation about the medicine, pressure, heartbreak, and incredible gift behind pediatric heart transplantation, and the reality that one family’s worst day can become another family’s second chance.Subscribe to Device Girls for more conversations from inside medicine that go beyond what you see in the hospital.Don’t forget to subscribe! We drop new episodes every Thursday @3:00pm CST with inspiring stories, expert advice, and real talk designed to elevate women in medicine. ***Views Expressed Are Our Own***Connect with us:Instagram: @sarahekruse @haleygibssonfit #WomenInMedicine #MedicalSales #TheDeviceGirls