11-Year-Old Ohio Girl Receives Life-Saving Heart Transplant After Yearlong Battle

In a heartwarming moment, 11-year-old Ava Cooper from Ohio was captured on video excitedly calling her father to share the news that she would be receiving a new heart. Ava has been battling serious heart defects since she was just six days old, including a hole in her heart, a heart positioned on the opposite side of her chest, reversed pumping chambers, and a missing or blocked pulmonary valve.

Despite undergoing multiple open-heart surgeries by the age of five, Ava's health began to rapidly decline in the summer of 2024, prompting doctors to conclude that a heart transplant was her best chance for survival. Ava spent nearly 300 days at Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital awaiting a donor heart, during which time her condition had its ups and downs, requiring oxygen, a feeding tube, and a device to help her heart pump blood.

On March 6, 2025, Ava underwent the long-awaited transplant surgery and emerged with a brand-new heart. After a month-long recovery in the hospital, Ava was finally able to go home on April 10, 2025, excited to see her friends, go on field trips, and do art projects again. Her inspiring journey from multiple surgeries to a triumphant transplant is a testament to her courage and the dedication of her medical team.