Balt. Co. Girl Celebrates First Year With New Heart

BALTIMORE COUNTY, Md. (WJZ) -- A Baltimore County girl born with a diseased heart needed a new one to survive. WJZ was in the operating room at Johns Hopkins when she got one. Now, one year later, WJZ was there again when the Parrott family got some life-changing news.

Jessica Kartalija has more.

When we met Madison Parrott, she was four years old and she was running out of time. The cardiac team at Johns Hopkins Children's Center raced against time to remove her damaged heart.

For more than an hour, machines kept Maddy's blood pumping until surgeons got a donor heart into her little chest.

The transplant was a success and there's nothing holding her back. But before Maddy can get a clean bill of health, there was a little housekeeping.

Now, one year later, Maddy is back to make sure her body is accepting her new heart.

"The best case scenario is no sign of rejection at all," said pediatric heart surgeon Dr. William Ravekes.

WJZ was in the lab when Maddy was wheeled in for a biopsy. Surgeons snipped a small piece off of Mady's beating heart to be examined under a microscope.

"This little girl has a life again!" Ravekes said. "It's a big anniversary. It's a big thing psychologically but it's a big thing medically, as well."

And big things call for big parties and lots of Maddy kisses to come.

Maddy will still have to visit the doctor for checkups on her heart. It's likely she will need another transplant later in her life.