Youth Is Stable After Transplant

Leonard Pattnett, 11, of Los Angeles was in stable condition this week after receiving a new heart Sunday in transplant surgery at Stanford University Medical Center.

The boy, whose heart problems were diagnosed and treated at Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles before his transfer to Stanford for surgery, was “off the respirator and sitting up in a chair and doing exercises in his room, which is normal” by Thursday, according to Mary-Nelson Campbell, spokesperson for Stanford Medical Center.

She added that Leonard was looking forward to a ride in a wheelchair.

She described Leonard’s progress as “good for now” and said that further reports would have to wait a few days until tests are made to see if the boy’s body is accepting the transplanted heart. Tests have not been scheduled.

It is Stanford’s policy to withhold information on the transplant donor, Campbell said. Leonard is the 392nd person to undergo heart transplant surgery at Stanford and only the third child, she said.

His mother, Mrs. Earline Carr, is with Leonard in Palo Alto. The story of her fight for a quality life for her son, reported in The Times on May 20, has brought “many beautiful notes, heart-warming things,” as well as $1,500 in contributions to help the family, said Beverly Daley, Leonard’s social worker at Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles.