• News
  • Film and TV
  • Music
  • Tech
  • Features
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Weird
  • Community
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
Woman visits her own heart inside museum 16 years after it was removed

Home> News

Published 12:21 19 May 2023 GMT+1

Woman visits her own heart inside museum 16 years after it was removed

Jennifer Sutton described the experience of seeing her own heart on display as 'surreal'

Kit Roberts

Kit Roberts

A woman has been able to do the unthinkable by visiting her own heart which has been put up on display in a museum.

Transplant patient Jennifer Sutton is now able to see her own heart some 16 years after it was removed, with it now being on display in an exhibition at the Hunterian Museum in London.

She described the experience of seeing her own heart as 'surreal' and hopes that it will encourage people to donate their organs for transplants.

Jennifer was just 22 years old when she realised that she was struggling with even the most basic physical exertion, such as walking up gentle hills.

Advert

Jennifer Sutton and husband Tom Evans.
Tom Evans

After visiting a doctor, she was diagnosed with restrictive cardiomyopathy and told that she would not survive unless she had a transplant.

She became increasingly ill while on the waiting list. However, in June 2007 she got the great news that they had found a match for her.

Jennifer was extremely anxious about the surgery as her own mother had died while having the same procedure when she was just 13-years-old.

Advert

However, her surgery was a success and now, 16 years later, she can look at her old heart on display.

Jennifer's heart on display at the Hunterian Museum in London.
Tom Evans

She told BBC News: "I remember waking up after the transplant and thinking 'oh my goodness I am actually a new person'. I remember doing a little double thumbs up dance to my family and saying 'I made it I made it'."

Jennifer gave her consent for her heart to be part of the exhibition and she wants people to encourage others to donate their organs, calling her heart 'the greatest gift possible'.

Advert

Speaking about the exhibition, she said: "The minute you first walk in you think 'that used to be inside my body'. But it's quite nice too - it's like my friend. It kept me alive for 22 years and I'm quite proud of it really.

"I've seen lots of things in jars in my lifetime but to think that's actually mine is very weird."

Jennifer and her surgeon, Mr Stephen Large.
Tom Evans

Mr Steven Large, who performed Jennifer's transplant operation at Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridgeshire, said: "She was as sick as anybody with pump failure. She's done incredibly well."

Advert

Now 38, Jennifer has since tried to live as full a life as she can. She has since married, something she said would not have happened without the donation.

She said: "It's been 16 fantastic years and I wouldn't have had any of them without my donor. I'm incredibly busy, active and keeping this heart as healthy as possible - keeping myself going for as long as possible."

Featured Image Credit: Tom Evans

Topics: Good News, Health, UK News

Kit Roberts
Kit Roberts

Kit joined UNILAD in 2023 as a community journalist. They have previously worked for StokeonTrentLive, the Daily Mirror, and the Daily Star.

Advert

Advert

Advert

  • Girl, 16, with Rapunzel Syndrome dies after eating her own hair
  • Woman sues after discovering feeding tube was left inside her body for 35 years
  • Woman who died six times while doctors tried to remove 40lbs tumor explains how it made her see the ‘world differently’
  • Woman who ripped out her own eyes reveals the reason why she did it

Choose your content:

an hour ago
2 hours ago
14 hours ago
  • an hour ago

    Dax Shepard shocks fans by posting NSFW picture of wife Kristen Bell in compromising position

    Dax Shepard posted the NSFW photo of his wife Kristen Bell to mark her Emmy nomination

    Celebrity
  • 2 hours ago

    Paranormal investigator dies suddenly aged 54 while touring US with infamous ‘Annabelle’ doll

    The paranormal investigator died after finishing off a three-day tour with the 'haunted' doll

    News
  • 14 hours ago

    Surprising reason man has been fined $100 repeatedly for giving out free water during heatwave

    David Martin is at war with his Homeowners Association over cold water

    News
  • 14 hours ago

    Boy, 7, with autism died weeks before he was reported missing as police give disturbing update

    Hershall Creachbaum was in the custody of his mom when he disappeared, with his body found the same day a kidnapping report was filed

    News