Infant Waiting for Heart Transplant Dies

A 3-month-old Fontana baby waiting for a new heart died at Kaiser Permanente in Hollywood before a new organ could be located, hospital officials said Monday.

Cecelia Angelica Guerra, who spent 2 1/2 months at the top of the transplant list, died Jan. 15 of congestive heart failure, said Pamela Dean, a hospital spokeswoman.

“She’s finally resting peacefully,” said her mother, Lisa Guerra, who had kept vigil over Cecelia’s small bed in the pediatric intensive care unit. Funeral services will be held today.

Cecelia was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a condition that left a pumping chamber in her heart improperly formed. After Christmas, her health deteriorated and she was recently taken off Loma Linda University Medical Center’s transplant list, Dean said.

Most babies with Cecelia’s condition can only live three or four months while waiting for a new heart. About 1 in 5 die before an organ is found.

Cecelia was the second Southern California baby to die in recent months while waiting for a heart. Jasmine Torres, an infant from Pico Rivera who also suffered from hypoplastic left heart syndrome, died in September.