SUCCESSFUL LUNG TRANSPLANT OF COVID-19 PATIENT

[Anchor Lead]

Korean surgeons have performed a successful lung transplant on a COVID-19 patient for the first time in the nation. With the lungs ravaged by the virus, the patient was treated in the intensive care unit for roughly 110 days. Her life-or-death battle was rewarded with the medical miracle. Here's more

[Pkg]

​​[Soundbite] "Exhale, inhale,,,breathe..."

This 50-year-old COVID-19 patient received a lung transplant on June 20. She now works hard at pulmonary rehab. Breathing used to be a challenge after the virus seriously damaged her lungs. Now, she has no trouble with basic daily function.

[Soundbite] (COVID-19 PATIENT RECEIVING LUNG TRANSPLANT) : "I was in grave danger before receiving the surgery. After the lung transplant, I could feel oxygen flowing into my clean lungs."

This is the nation's first successful case of a lung transplant carried out to save a COVID-19 patient. The patient was confirmed to be infected with the virus back in February and was admitted to the ICU a week later. Being put on a ventilator and the heart-lung machine ECMO, she waged a life-or-death battle for around 110 days. This miracle could be achieved thanks to the patient's strong determination and devoted care by medical staffers.

[Soundbite] LEE SOON-HEE(NURSE, HALLYM UNIV. MEDICAL CENTER) : "The nurses worked around the clock, to monitor her condition, care for her and tend to her needs as if she was our own daughter."

With existing medications proven ineffective, her damaged lungs hardened. A lung transplant was her only hope of survival. Pulmonary fibrosis is extensively observed in the scarred lungs of a COVID-19 patient.

[Soundbite] KIM HYUNG-SOO(CARDIOTHORACIC SURGEON, HALLYM UNIV. MEDICAL CENTER) : "The lungs must feel soft when pressed. But the COVID-19 patient's lungs were very different, almost as hard as stone."

The patient is now in stable condition with no acute rejection symptoms. Thanks to the surgery, she has regained her ability to breathe on her own without extracorporeal life support.