Woman lives without lungs for six days
In what’s believed to be a world first, Canadian doctors removed the severely infected lungs from a dying woman, keeping her alive without them for six days, so that she could recover enough to receive a life-saving lung transplant.
Thoracic surgeons at Toronto General Hospital (TGH), part of the University Health Network (UNH), performed the procedure on 33-year-old Melissa Benoit.
“This was bold and very challenging, but Melissa was dying before our eyes,” Dr. Shaf Keshavjee, surgeon-in-chief at UHN, said in a statement. Keshavjee was one of three thoracic surgeons who operated together on Benoit to remove both her lungs. “We had to make a decision because Melissa was going to die that night. Melissa gave us the courage to go ahead,” he said.
In a news conference this week, Benoit thanked the team of doctors, her donor, and her family.
“I still don’t believe what happened. It feels very surreal,” she said. “They pulled me back from the dead.”
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