Medicine advances on a regular basis, leading to major breakthroughs in the field. The perseverance, knowledge, curiosity and innovation of scientists and doctors are for the benefit of the entire humanity.

The human body manages, however, to surprise and contradict science even today. One such body is that of D’Zhana Simmons, a 14-year old girl. The girl was diagnosed with an enlarged heart, which wasn’t able to supply enough blood needed for the body. Simmons and her family traveled to the Holtz Children’s Hospital in Miami, where the girl was scheduled to receive a heart transplant. Unfortunately for the young Simmons, the new heart proved to be equally inadequate. It was assessed that the new heart was even facing the danger of rupturing. Consequently, the doctors removed the faulty heart.

Because the 14-year-old girl was now virtually heartless, the doctors opted for a very unusual procedure, which they rarely apply to such young patients. The heart was replaced with artificial pumping devices. These devices were designed to maintain blood flow throughout the body, until Simmons received a new heart. The amazing feature of this procedure is that Simmons’ body used these pumps for a full 118 days, until the girl was to receive a new heart again.

Doctors who are familiar or even use this technique themselves have expressed great interest in the case of the 14-year-old girl who survived without a heart for four whole months.

Except for the intricate pumps, the doctors also built Simmons new heart chambers, which were manufactured from fabric. The chambers were then connected to the pumps, and the artificial heart was thus created. The technique hasn’t been used in children because usually, they do not have life-threatening conditions. As a result, less money is being geared towards this type of research.