New Heart, New Energy, New Dreams for Jessica

08 September 2009Invercargill teenager Jessica Ricketts proudly holds her heart in her hand.

Destroyed by the drugs that helped her beat cancer as an infant, it has been replaced inside her scarred torso by the heart of a woman in her 40s.

Now, 10 weeks after the lifesaving operation in Auckland the 14-year-old has returned home with not only a new heart but new energy and new dreams.

Her goals are small. She wants to walk up town and go shopping for the first time since she can remember and cannot wait to get back to school in two weeks.

"I hope my friends look differently at me," she said yesterday. "Not in a sick way and always asking me if I want to rest."

Mother Trudy Hardwick says it is the most healthy and upbeat she has seen her daughter since she was six years old.

Since then Jessica's struggling heart was kept functioning on a cocktail of drugs but in November last year her health deteriorated and a transplant became inevitable. By Easter she was permanently in Southland Hospital, awaiting the news that a new heart was ready.

In late June she got the call to Auckland for her lifesaving operation. Thick fog shrouding much of the country almost prevented her arrival but thanks to a helicopter ride and private jet she arrived in Auckland and, the next day, became the recipient of the new heart.

Even after the operation it has been a rollercoaster ride. A large seizure was initially thought to be a brain damage-causing stroke and left her in a coma for days before she began to recover and the cause was revealed to be a reaction to drugs.

But the family still consider themselves among the lucky ones. They know people who have died waiting for an organ to become available.

Being given the all-clear to be at home with their family, including two new nephews for Jessica, was a relief, said Trudy. "I'm just so pleased she can walk where ever and do whatever she wants. She can be a normal teenager."

Jessica will continue on a daily regime of drugs and to have regular checks but is planning a long and fulfilling life.

By Debbie Jamieson - The Southland Times