Toddler Is World’s Youngest Recipient of Artificial Lung

When toddler Owen Stark's heart stopped beating not once, but 10 times, his parents thought they would lose him forever. Having been unsuccessful in waiting for a lung donor, they agreed to try an artificial lung device — with successful results.

It was during a shopping trip that the previously healthy 2-year-old collapsed near his Missouri home and was rushed to hospital, unable to breathe, reports Britain's Daily Mail. Diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary hypertension (high blood pressure in the lungs), he was put on a heart/lung bypass machine at St Louis Children's Hospital while the search for a suitable donor began.

Patients can only be kept on a bypass machine for a limited time before it causes irreversible damage, so time was running out. His parents made the brave decision to try something new: a German-built artificial lung device, called NovaLung. It was the first time a patient as young as their son had been fitted with the device.

Placed outside the body, the little white box is attached by two tubes removing carbon dioxide outside the human lung and perfused with blood by the heart like a natural organ. Doctors have been amazed by Stark's response to his sessions on the machine. Pediatric cardiologist at the hospital, Dr. Mark Grady said, "This absolutely saved his life. He could be going home within a month, which we never ever thought would be possible."

Expected to lead a relatively long and happy life thanks to his new treatment, Stark's parents couldn't be happier. Owen's mother Tonya Stark added, "His life expectancy has gone from a few days to a few weeks and now years — it's a miracle."

Photo via stlouischildrens.org.