On September 11, 2001, while the US was dealing with the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people, a six-month-old baby in Houston was fighting for her life.
asserted
baby → deal → life
Kareena needed a liver transplant, but the donor organ was nearly 800 miles away in Nashville, and the civilian flights across the US had been grounded.
The liver, packed in ice inside a box roughly two feet by one foot, eventually reached Houston aboard a C-130 cargo plane, Houston Chronicle reported.
asserted
Chronicle → need → plane
The aircraft, operated by the Tennessee Air National Guard, carried the organ from Nashville to Ellington Field.
asserted
aircraft → operate → Field
From there, soldiers took it to Texas Children’s Hospital, where doctors were waiting to perform the transplant.
asserted
doctors → take → transplant
Kareena had been born with biliary atresia, a congenital defect in which the ducts that drain bile from the liver do not form.
asserted
that → bear → liver
Because the bile could not drain properly, her liver became badly damaged at a very young age.
uncertain
liver → drain → age
By September 2001, she had spent most of her short life in the Texas Medical Center and was too sick to go home.
asserted
she → spend → Center
“She was too ill to leave the hospital,” Dr John Goss, the hospital’s medical director for transplant services, told Houstone Chronicle, 25 years after the transplant.
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Goss → leave → transplant
“She was very sick, and she wasn’t going to survive very long without a transplant,” he added.
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he → go → transplant
The chance of a transplant came on the night of September 10, when Goss received a call from his former colleague at Vanderbilt University, Dr Ravi Chari.
asserted
Goss → come → University
A liver that could match the six-month-old’s size and blood type was available in Nashville.
uncertain
that → match → Nashville
Transplant disrupted by 9/11
The original plan was Chari would remove the liver in Nashville, Tennessee Donor Services would arrange a charter flight to Houston, and Goss would transplant the organ into Kareena.
asserted
Goss → disrupt → Kareena
That plan changed the next morning.
asserted
plan → change → ?
Goss was treating adult patients at St Luke’s when the first plane hit the World Trade Center in New York.
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plane → treat → York
He later recalled, “It’s weird.
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It → recall → ?
I can still remember we were in a patient room when the first jet flew into the tower.”
asserted
jet → remember → tower
A second plane hit the World Trade Center soon after.
asserted
plane → hit → Center
As the attacks unfolded in New York, Washington, DC, and Pennsylvania, the Federal Aviation Administration grounded every civilian aircraft in the country.
asserted
Administration → unfold → country
The charter flight that was supposed to carry the organ was no longer
asserted
that → suppose → organ
Jill Grandas, who was then a coordinator with Tennessee Donor Services and is now its CEO, was told that the flight had been cancelled.
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flight → tell → Services
A road journey to Houston was considered but rejected.
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journey → consider → Houston
At the time, the organ could not survive the roughly 12-hour drive.
uncertain
organ → survive → drive
Grandas then went to the mail room, took out a phone book and called the air-traffic control tower at Nashville International Airport.
asserted
Grandas → go → Airport
She explained that a baby in Houston would die without the liver waiting in the operating room.
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liver → explain → room
The supervisor who answered understood the situation.
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who → answer → situation
Grandas later learnt that the woman had a relative on a transplant waiting list.
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woman → learn → list
Within minutes, another option emerged.
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option → emerge → minutes
The Tennessee Air National Guard agreed to fly the liver to Houston.
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Guard → agree → Houston
“It was a feeling of joy in the midst of something so tragic,” Grandas said.
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Grandas → say → something
“We were determined that we weren’t going to let another person die as a result of that attack.”
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person → go → attack
Kareena takes selfie with the doctor who saved her life 25 years ago
Military plane carried the tiny liver
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plane → take → liver
Nine National Guard members boarded a C-130 Hercules aircraft and flew the liver to Houston.
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members → board → Houston
The aircraft can carry up to 47,000 pounds, but on that flight its important cargo was a liver small enough to fit inside a box packed with ice.
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cargo → carry → ice
The plane landed at Ellington Field within a few hours.
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plane → land → hours
At noon, the organ was handed over to another group of soldiers.
asserted
organ → hand → soldiers
They drove it towards Texas Children’s Hospital in a military vehicle.
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They → drive → vehicle
The liver then reached Goss, who was waiting to perform the transplant.
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who → reach → transplant
By that evening, Kareena had received the organ.
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Kareena → receive → organ
“Even though there was the horrific event and it was meant to hurt a lot of people, there were still very good people who were not going to let it completely hurt us,” Goss said.
asserted
Goss → be → us
“In the end, the good will win.”
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good → win → end
…and 21 more, not listed.
The Aporia
