Baby’s New Heart Is a ‘Perfect Fit’ : Surgery: The 13-day-old boy born to a Midway City couple is listed in stable but critical condition after the transplant.

The 13-day-old son of an Orange County couple received a heart transplant Friday and doctors said the child’s chances for a normal life are good.

Robert (Robbie) Shinn was listed in critical but stable condition after the 4 1/2-hour surgery, doctors at Loma Linda University Medical Center said. Robbie’s condition is normal for heart transplant recipients, they said.

“It was a perfect fit,” Dr. Anees Razzouk said of the transplanted heart.

The infant’s parents, who spent the last few days agonizing over whether a heart could be found for their critically ill baby, tearfully thanked the family that donated the organ of their baby boy, who died of sudden infant death syndrome.

“We’re just utterly indebted to them for the life of our child,” said Charles Shinn, a Westminster police officer who lives in Midway City. “Today’s (like) his second birthday and it’s pretty special. We feel just wonderful. We’re overwhelmed.”

Renee Shinn said family members and friends were keeping their fingers crossed. “We thought our son was going to die,” she said. “He’s still not out of it yet. He has to accept the heart. Hopefully, he’ll make it through the whole way.”

The hospital declined to release additional details about the donor beyond saying that it was a “long-distance procurement” and that the child succumbed to SIDS, a mysterious affliction that kills babies.

Robbie was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a condition in which part of the left side of the heart is defective and non-functional. He was slowly dying, but doctors at Children’s Hospital of Orange County kept him alive on a ventilator and medicine while they searched for a heart.

Chances seemed slim because Robbie’s B-positive blood type is found in only 8.5% of the American population. Family members burst into tears Thursday when they learned that a heart had become available.

On Friday morning, the Westminster Police Department erupted in cheers and applause when Officer Robin Kapp announced over the public address system that Robbie was “hanging in there.”

The department embraced the search for a new heart with officers putting out an urgent plea for a donor and wearing blue ribbons next to their badges. Some officers filled in for their colleague at work when they learned that his newborn son needed a transplant.

“This one hit close to home and we’re all very pleased that things are going to be just fine,” Kapp said.

On Friday, officials of the Westminster Police Officers’ Assn. announced that they will start a fund for the Shinns.

Dr. Sudeep Singh, the baby’s physician at CHOC, said doctors at the Loma Linda hospital will need to monitor Robbie’s heart functions and administer medication regularly to prevent his body from rejecting the heart.

Robbie’s surgery was the 142nd such operation performed at Loma Linda on an infant under the age of six months since 1985. About 82% of these babies have survived, hospital officials said.

Renee Shinn could not hold back the tears shortly after she saw her baby in the intensive care unit and realized that he had received a new lease on life.

“He’s pink, and he was really pale before,” she said. “He looks great. I can’t wait to take him home.”