It’s Goodby for One Young Heart Recipient and Hello to Another

Even as the world’s youngest heart transplant patient, month-old Paul Gabriel Bailey Holc, was leaving Loma Linda University Medical Center Friday, the surgeon who performed his transplant was giving a new heart to another baby.

In a six-hour operation, Dr. Leonard Bailey transplanted the heart from an unidentified donor into a 12-week-old girl identified only as Baby Genevieve, the 11th infant to undergo the procedure at Loma Linda. Genevieve was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a usually fatal ailment in which the heart does not develop properly.

The Canadian girl was flown to Loma Linda Thursday night, along with her parents, Pierre, 27, and Anne Marie, 25. A hospital spokeswoman said Friday afternoon that the baby’s condition was “critical but stable,” which is normal for heart recipients after surgery.

The hospital also celebrated two other anniversaries Friday: the first birthday of Baby Jessica, who received a new heart in February, and the second anniversary of Baby Moses’ transplant. Baby Moses was only 4 days old when he received his transplant in November, 1985, and was the youngest recipient until Paul received his only hours after birth by Caesarean section.