Antía Piñeiro, a 22-year-old from Lanzarote, was on the cover of national media a little over a week ago after receiving a heart transplant from the same cardiac surgeon who operated on her when she was just one year old in A Coruña.
Destiny wanted the young woman and Dr. Francisco Portela to meet more than two decades later, but this time at the Doctor Negrín Hospital in Gran Canaria. After that first transplant, Piñeiro's childhood was like that of any other girl. "My childhood and adolescence were very normal and I didn't have many limitations, that is, I could play sports and go to a normal school, although I always went to check-ups with the doctor," she says.
Despite having been transplanted as a baby, the young woman never lived with the thought that in the future she would have to undergo surgery again to receive another heart. "There is always the possibility that it could happen to you again, but the truth is that I didn't live with the thought that I would have to have another transplant," she declares.
The organ that was transplanted arrived in a critical situation when Antía's life was in danger. The donor emerged when she was transferred from Lanzarote to the hospital in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and, after seven days in the hospital, an angel appeared in the form of a donor in the Canary Islands. Thanks to that new heart, Piñeiro can now lead a normal life like any other person.
The person in charge of transplanting that heart was the surgeon Francisco Portela, who met Piñeiro again 21 years later. "I was aware that he worked at Negrín but I had no idea that he was going to transplant me again," she says. "It was a surprise when I woke up and they told me because I didn't know until after the operation and I thought: what a coincidence," she says.
The new life after the transplant
The postoperative period of such a complex intervention is slow and led the Lanzarote woman to start again in some everyday aspects of daily life. "It has been complicated because I had to learn to walk again from being lying down for so long because I was hospitalized for a month," she says.
The young woman's quality of life after the complicated surgery has improved considerably. "Compared to before the operation I feel much better because before I was very short of breath and now I'm not, I have much more energy than before and I already want to go back to my normal life," she says happily.
With the medical advances that exist today, Antía Piñeiro's new heart will have a longer life than the one she was given two decades ago. "I have been lucky to have doctors who have always told me things as they are and according to what they tell me, with the advances that exist now I will be able to live many years without having to face another transplant," she reveals.
Now, the young woman is only focused on enjoying the moment and not thinking about what may happen in the future. "I don't think I have to have surgery again because it's something that can happen to all of us," says the young woman.
New objectives
Due to the exhaustion that the Lanzarote woman's heart was beginning to have, the young woman had to put aside her studies and other activities that she carried out. "I would like to start studying again because I left it aside and I want to start Early Childhood Education," she says.
In addition, she also wants to continue with sports. "I still can't because it's very recent but I want to play handball again, I would like it a lot," she says.
Now, Piñeiro faces a new life full of opportunities, all thanks to an altruistic act such as organ donation and the vital work of surgeons, doctors, nurses and other health personnel who, without having a cape, become heroes.