A Near Death Experience
By Moises Adames
On a sunny December morning at approximately 9:35 am, a little girl’s heart came to an abrupt stop. Eleven-year-old Lisbeth Collado was undergoing her second heart transplant in less than eight years, when the loud beeping noise from the electrocardiograph machine went silent. For the next four minutes, her small, lifeless body laid on the cold, padded operating bed, as doctors desperately attempted to bring her back to life.
Lisbeth Collado was born on the 14th of October, 1991 to Amarilis and Federico Collado in the Dominican Republic. At the age of two, doctors told her family that her heart was relatively too weak for her body, and that she would require treatment and worst case scenario, a transplant. Two months later her family migrated to the United States and settled in the South Bronx, in hopes of finding a better second option for their little girl.
Following recommendations from their friends and family, they decided to take 2-year-old Lisbeth to one of the top rated medical centers in both the city and the country, Mount Sinai Hospital. Unfortunately, doctors at the facility informed the Collado family that her heart was indeed failing and had weakened even more. Left with no other options, both the family and doctors agreed that the best thing for Lisbeth, was to place her on the waiting list for a heart transplant.
Three weeks after being placed on the waiting list, doctors told Lisbeth and her family that a possible donor heart had become available. Since organ offers are determined by blood types and heart size, this meant that the heart that had become available, belonged to a little boy or girl around the same age as Lisbeth. That little boy’s name was Anthony Ferreira, a 4-year-old who had sadly lost his fight against cancer. His mother, Mercedes Ferreira, made the decision to donate her son’s heart, hoping that it would save the life of someone else’s child.
Fast forward to December 2nd, 2001, and Lisbeth Collado’s heart has failed once again. She had lived with Anthony Ferreira’s heart for about seven years with no complications, until one day she began to feel weak and show a lot of “flu-like symptoms” such as headaches, dizziness and a lot of vomiting. Her body was rejecting the heart.
Nonetheless, it seemed as if luck was on her side — a second donor heart had become available just days after she was placed on the waiting list. The surgery began at exactly 8:05 in the morning and for the next hour and a half, everything was going according to plan, until the unexpected happened. Before the operation, the staff had properly prepared Lisbeth to withstand the procedure with anesthesia and by connecting her to a machine so that she was able to breath properly. As doctors were connecting each blood vessel and getting closer to concluding another successful transplant, Lisbeth Collado suddenly died.
Lisbeth was dead for approximately four minutes until doctors miraculously brought her back to life. She is now 24 years old and lives a relatively normal life as a nurse assistant in Midtown Manhattan. “I honestly recall being terrified before being put under general anesthesia,” says Lisbeth. “Even though I was only 11 years old at the time, I literally saw my life flash before my eyes.” She said she vividly remembers the nurse asking her about her favorite Disney cartoon and as she was midway through saying “Minnie Mouse,” when the anesthesia kicked in and put her to sleep. “Even though I was under general anesthesia, I still remember having my eyes closed and seeing a burst of bright colors and shapes.” she says. “If that’s how death feels, then I don’t know why people fear it so much. It felt relaxing and extremely peaceful.”