Friday, November 1, 2013

On This Date in Minnesota History: November 1

November 1, 1986 – The heart and lungs of a 21-year-old cheerleader from North Dakota State University–Fargo were transplanted into a 33-year-old woman from Moorhead, Minn. at the University of Minnesota Hospital. It was the state’s second heart-lung transplant. The recipient, Delores Selidan, “was born with Eisenmenger’s syndrome, a severe heart defect that allows oxygen-poor blue blood to bypass the lungs, reducing the flow of oxygen-rich blood to the rest of the body.” The donor, Janis Thompson, lost her balance and fell during a dismount from the top of a pyramid during cheerleading practice and landed on her head. She was declared brain dead on Friday, October 31.

Minneapolis Star and Tribune; “One women’s death helps another to live”; November 4, 1986; pp. 1A & 7A.

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