On Christmas 2016, Lisa-Marie Gamache, a 16 year old teenage girl got the best present she could have ever dreamed of.

She got a new heart.  The surgery started on december 24 2016 and ended the next day in the morning.

Affected by leukemia in 2006, it was a harsh time for her family and herself.  The Young girl was 6 at the time and her heart was supposedly cured.

But seven years later, she started having heart problems again and it ended up only recently. Even though she was given a mecanical pump to help her heart while waiting for a real one, a clot was formed in her mechanical heart.  Doctors had to put her on top of the list of people waiting for heart donations.

In february 2016, secondary four students from Rivière-du-loup’s high school had already collected 12 000$ to help the family pay for treatments, the mechanical heart and the real one.

After waiting for many years, she finally received her heart.  She had to wait for a long time before the transplantation because only 1 person out of 100 respects the criterias for organs donations.

“She entered the surgery room at 11 O’ clock at night. She received her heart at 3 O’ clock but was only seen at 10.  We spent the night awake” said her mother visibly exhausted.

“Mom…I’ll breathe fresh air and touch the snow”.  said Lisa to her mother right after the surgery.  “She will be able to do it” responded mrs Dumas letting a tear slip down her cheek.

Lisa-Marie’s mother, Guylaine Dumas, was emotionally touched by hundred’s of supportive messages sent to her and her daughter.

(Reporting by Jacob Boulay ; Editing by Philippe Rousseau)