Roberts granddaughter receives heart transplant
Charis Alicia Roberts, 16, is on the long road to recovery with a new heart in her chest at Dallas, Texas, and her grandparents, Lou and LeRoy Roberts are anxious in Marion.
The Joshua High School sophomore suffered a massive heart attack while going for a walk with her mother, Mrs. Richard Roberts, on April 2. From that point on it became a frantic but well organized effort to save her life.
She was flown from Cleburne to Fort Worth where she had bypass surgery. Then she was flown to Dallas to await a new heart.
When a suitable heart was located, at 2 a.m. Sunday, her team of surgeons took a jet flight to an undisclosed location to remove the heart to be transplanted.
The transplant surgery was completed at 10 a.m. Sunday.
She is doing as well as can be expected, but her immune system is low and the family can only see her behind glass in isolation.
Her young heart was pumping at 15 percent of capacity prior to surgery at St. Paul Medical Center in Dallas.
The new heart is now in place, and the family has high hopes for a full recovery.
Not overweight and not a junk food enthusiast, she was swinging from a tree branch five minutes prior to the attack, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram which featured a front page story.
During the bypass surgery her heart stopped four times. The article said 85 percent of her original heart was permanently damaged.
Specialists said her heart attack was "absolutely, totally unusual." Doctors said they've never seen such a heart attack in such a young person.
Her family has some insurance coverage but the events will be totally devastating, financially.
A fund has been established, the Charis Roberts Fund, at Marion National Bank.
