‘Good spirits’ despite delay

Press, 29 June 1987, Page 5

‘Good spirits’ despite delay

By

GLEN PERKINSON

Mrs Adrienne Mackwell, the Diamond Harbour woman awaiting a new heart in Sydney, is in good spirits in spite of a disappointment on Friday.

Mrs Mackwell was told by St Vincent’s Hospital staff that she should prepare for a transplant on Friday.

She had to fast for six hours in preparation for

the surgery but at the last minute she was telephoned by doctors telling her the transplant would have to be postponed. The small heart, suitable for Mrs Mackwell, was discovered to be ideal for a man who has been waiting for two years for both a heart and lung transplant. Doctors discovered the

lungs of the heart donor were in good order and compatible with the man’s body.

Nevertheless, Mrs Mackwell said, even though it was a disappointment to miss, she felt “all right about it.”

“That is the way it goes,” she told “The Press” from Sydney last evening. She believed that there would not be too much longer to wait for a suit-

able heart. She was confident that because she required only a small heart she had a better chance

of finding a suitable one as there were more small hearts coming forward for transplant and more people wanted larger organs.

In the meantime Mrs Mackwell and her husband, Alan, have been touring Sydney. “I have to tell the hospital when I am going out and then check in when I

get back,” she said. . Mrs Mackwell has been in Sydney for three weeks.