Free Republic

RALEIGH -- Jesica Santillan, the 17-year-old Mexican girl who died after a botched heart-lung transplant, will be buried in Louisburg, her adopted hometown. Jesica's family wants to remain in Louisburg to be involved in Jesica's Hope Chest, a charitable foundation established in Jesica's name, and to reply to the "many expressions of love" they have received, said Armando Ortiz-Rocha, the Mexican consul in Raleigh, who met with the family Thursday. [snip] Mahoney said he sponsored Huerta about 18 months ago under a program in which undocumented immigrants could receive permanent residency in the United States, known as a "green card."...

They lost their daughter to a botched transplant - now Jesica Santillan's heartbroken parents are scared to take her home to Mexico to bury her. Magdalena Santillan and Melecio Huerta will reluctantly bury Jesica Santillan in North Carolina, a family spokesman said. "The mother was upset, but she understands if she leaves the country she might not be able to come back," said Mack Mahoney of Louisburg, N.C. "That's just the way it is." The family paid thousands to be illegally smuggled into the U.S. in 1999 so Jesica could get proper care for her rare cardiac condition. The family...

DURHAM, N.C. - The teenager who was put through a second heart-lung transplant after the first was botched died yesterday. Jesica Santillan, 17, was declared brain dead at 1:25 p.m. and taken off life-support machines about 5 p.m., said Duke University Medical Center spokesman Richard Puff. She was kept on life support through the afternoon so family and friends could say goodbye, the hospital said in a statement. Medicine to keep her heart going was discontinued at 5 p.m. Her heart stopped seven minutes later and a ventilator then was turned off. Renee McCormick, a spokeswoman for a charity created...

The teenage girl who was put through two heart-lung transplants because the first set of organs were the wrong blood type had lost all brain activity Saturday, and blood was no longer flowing to her brain, a hospital spokesman said. The hospital had not yet declared Jesica Santillan brain dead, but her family was meeting with doctors to discuss the next step. Duke University Medical Center spokesman Richard Puff said Saturday that tests had found blood was no longer flowing to the 17-year-old's brain and they registered no brain activity. He has said the time frame to declare brain death...

<p>DURHAM, N.C. — Jesica Santillan's recovery from a second heart-lung transplant within two weeks ran into a serious complication Friday when doctors discovered swelling in her brain.</p> <p>Doctors attributed the complication to the amount of time she was connected to machines to keep her condition stable while she awaited the second transplant, said Mack Mahoney, a leader of fund-raising efforts to pay for Jesica's care, at a news conference Friday morning.</p>