The baby from Utah underwent a life-saving operation recently. Last year, the FDA allowed Primary Children's Hospital to hook up an artificial assist pump to Kaidence McCall Stephenson. She was dying and would have never survived had the government not given Utah doctors a special dispensation to use the European device.

Tubes from the Berlin Heart, as it's called, were hooked up to the left side of Kaidence's own heart. The pump itself remained outside the body. In the end, the device was removed along with Kaidence's failing heart and was replaced with a real heart transplant. Because Kaidence is on an immunosuppressant drug, she wore a mask to protect her from colds and coughs.

"We know this is what was meant to be," said Shauntelle Stephenson, Kaidence's mother. "It was scary going into it because it was so unknown. But it felt so right at the same time."

Clinical trials for infant-designed devices will soon begin in the United States. The University of Pittsburgh will soon be testing a whole new generation of devices, including the Utah designed heart that uses a magnetically suspended impeller to drive the pump.

"...And we're probably less than a year away from clinical trials," said Dr. Peter Kouretas, a cardio surgeon. "we've implanted it in animals and we're on the brink of being able to implant it in babies."

These pumps will be designed to keep infants alive while they wait for real heart transplants. The prognosis for Kaidence is very good and the new heart will grow with her. She'll grow into childhood able to play with her friends and pretty much do what she wants.

"Generally, patients who are transplanted in infancy, about half of them still have the heart that they were transplanted with 15 years or more later," said dr. M. Everitt, cardiologist.

Mike Stephenson, Kaidence's father said, "I haven't had so much fun in the last couple of weeks because I've had my daughter home."

Kaidence survived on the Berlin Pump for 47 days before she got her real heart transplant.

The Stephensons thanked a lot of people for their daughter's gift, but most especially, the family that donated the heart the day before Christmas Eve.