Illinois girl receives heart transplant for third birthday

CHICAGO — It was a wonderful birthday present for a 3-year-old girl from Illinois, even if it came early.

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Delilah Edwards, of Moline, celebrated her birthday on Saturday after recently receiving a heart transplant, WLS-TV reported. The procedure was the 400th heart transplant for Chicago’s Lurie Children’s Hospital, the television station reported.

The child has undergone 10 surgeries and spent more than half her life in hospitals with a rare heart condition, according to WLS. Before she was born, doctors diagnosed that she had two congenital heart conditions: hypoplastic left heart syndrome and double outlet right ventricle. Both disorders affect normal blood flow to the heart.

“We always stay positive but we were always prepared that you know, anything could turn at any moment,” the girl’s father, Ryan Edwards, told WLS. “You know, we doctors can only do so much.”

For more than seven months, Delilah Edwards was on a waiting list to receive a new heart. In October, her parents got the call they had been hoping for.

”Bunch of emotion, everything at once,” the girl’s mother, Samantha Davidson, told WLS.

“Yeah, everything at once. Happiness, just straight joy,” Ryan Edwards told the television station.

Delilah Edwards has responded well after her transplant.

”Her course has been truly outstanding,” her nurse, Megan Miniat, told WLS. “I mean, she’s had really no complications post out from her heart, which can be rare to see sometimes.”

Other staff members on the 22nd floor of the hospital agree.

”Her smile is absolutely contagious on this floor,” nurse Caroline Baubonis told WLS. “I mean, she lights up the whole unit. And whenever she comes around in her wagon, it’s always a good day.”

Another good day for Delilah Edwards will come soon, as she will be able to go home soon.

”It’s a little bittersweet,” Miniat told WLS. “We will miss her.”

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