LONDON – A 12-year-old heart transplant girl has had her donor organ removed and her own heart brought back to life after 10 years.

Hannah Clark, from Mountain Ash in south Wales, had the pioneering operation carried out at Great Ormond Street Hospital, in London, on February 20 after her body rejected her new heart.

The complicated procedure was carried out by surgeons advised by a renowned heart specialist, Sir Magdi Yacoub, who came out of retirement at the request of Hannah’s parents, Paul and Elizabeth.

Sir Magdi performed Hannah’s original transplant operation in 1996 when she was 2. She was suffering from cardiomyopathy, which made her heart double the size it should have been and therefore likely to give out within a year. A “piggy-back,” or heterotopic heart transplant, saved her life.

The operation involved inserting the new heart into the right side of the chest and attaching it to Hannah’s heart, which was left in position. The donor heart worked perfectly until last November when a routine visit to a cardiologist showed that her body was rejecting it.

Mrs. Clark said that at first the Great Ormond Street surgeons were reluctant to remove the donor heart and reconnect the dormant one because they said it had never been done before.

Weeks later the team agreed to perform the operation and, at the family’s request, Sir Magdi provided surgeons with his expertise.

Mrs. Clark said: “They were expecting it to take at least eight hours but she was out within four hours.

“They also said she could be in intensive care for weeks, maybe months. But she recovered so well she was able to come home within five days.”

Mrs. Clark said that Hannah was enjoying life and looking forward to going back to Mountain Ash comprehensive after Easter.

One major benefit of the operation is that she no longer needs to take the strong anti-rejection drugs prescribed while she had the donor heart. She has also been fighting lymph cancer for several years but is in remission after a successful course of chemotherapy in January.

Hannah is feeling well enough to think about taking part in the Transplant Games this year when she hopes to compete in swimming, long jump, and table tennis.

Mrs. Clark said: “She may not be the best athlete but she is quite active and we are very proud of her.”

The cardiac surgeons at Great Ormond Street are delighted that Hannah is doing so well.

A spokesman for the team said: “We believe that this combination of circumstances is the first for children or adults in Britain.”

More than 6,000 adults and children are waiting for organ transplants but only 2,800 operations take place each year because of a shortage of donors.