Donor heart comes just in time for Grosse Pointe Woods athlete
Soccer player, 12, may go home in three weeks after undergoing 12-hour transplant operation
By Shawn D. Lewis / The Detroit News
© The Detroit News
October 24, 2001

   DETROIT -- Sarah McPharlin awakened from surgery with a new heart Tuesday morning.
   The 12-year-old Grosse Pointe Woods athlete, whose love for soccer matches her exuberance for life, received a donor heart just as time was running out. A heart-assisting device implanted in her chest two months ago had been designed for adults and no longer was working effectively.
   So when a donor became available, Dr. Henry Walters, chief of cardiovascular surgery at Children's Hospital, worked for 12 hours with two other specialists to implant the new organ.
   "Sarah has been adopted by the entire hospital," Dr. Walters said, smiling. "She is awake, she looks good and her heart rhythms are excellent. All indications are great."
   Jim McPharlin, 46, and his wife Dianne, 47, were all smiles when the surgeon added: "I do think she'll be playing soccer again."
   But the half-day operation was arduous because the implanted device caused scar tissue to form in her chest cavity.
   "It was a pretty traumatic operation. There were lots of ups and downs," said Walters, who worked with cardiovascular surgeon Ralph Delius and Dr. Alvise Bernabei, surgical director of the thoracic organ transplant department at Henry Ford Hospital.
   Walters, who initially said at a news briefing he could not discuss Sarah without breaking down, had given her a long-stemmed rose on her 12th birthday three weeks ago, a day she spent lying in her hospital bed.
   Sarah's mother, a special education teacher for Grosse Pointe Schools, added: "Dr. Walters gave her a big hug before her surgery and reassured her, saying, 'I will take care of you.' "
   Dianne McPharlin described the difficulty she encountered trying to keep Sarah's spirits elevated as her daughter sank into a depression. "I couldn't pass a funeral home without thinking we might lose her," she said.
   Sarah's ordeal began July 17 while swimming at a neighborhood pool. She lost consciousness and doctors discovered a viral infection that enlarged and inflamed her heart. The child had no previous history of heart problems.
   Jim McPharlin, who works in the business division of DaimlerChrysler AG, was overjoyed about his daughter's progress. "It has been a long three months since this nightmare began on July 17. The device implanted in her chest gave us the bridge we needed and now she has a new heart.
   "Thank God for the donor family for having the courage to do this."
   Walters said he could not discuss or identify the donor, but did say the heart is large enough so that Sarah should have no problems with it as she grows.
   If there are no serious complications, she could return home in about three weeks to join her sister Katy, 16, and Emily, 3.
   "The message here is that Sarah got her heart, but there are lots of kids and other people who will need hearts and other organs," Walters said. "We should keep the focus where it should be -- on the need for more organ donations."