A British woman who carried an artificial heart in a backpack after her own was removed has died from complications during transplant surgery.
For about two years Henderson carried a 15-pound mechanical heart after her own had to be removed due to a rare heart cancer.
Henderson died on Wednesday, Feb. 27, in Harefield Hospital “surrounded by family and friends,” according to relatives cited in the report.
Henderson’s mother, Linda, wrote about her on Twitter: “We’re going to miss our amazing, wonderful daughter.
“She touched so many lives and lived her life to the fullest. She was also my best friend and I’m going to love and miss her forever.”
Becca—as she was known to friends and family—was one of only two people in the UK with an artificial heart.
“It was a privilege to have her as a daughter and a friend,” her family said, according to the BBC. “Becca was a beautiful, brilliant shining light in our lives.
“Heaven has gained the brightest new star. We will love her forever.”
‘Courageous Young Woman’
Henderson, who was a post-graduate student at Oxford University, underwent a procedure in 2017 to remove her own disease-stricken organ.Surgeon Stephen Westaby was cited by the BBC as saying that “minuscule numbers of people” ever had cancer in the heart and Henderson was “the most courageous young woman.”
Henderson made headlines when she returned to study history at St. Anne’s College, Oxford, and brought the 15-pound artificial heart with her in a backpack.
“I’m slightly crazily or perhaps slightly ingeniously—I’m not sure which yet—going back to uni now and I’m doing that taking my mum and dad as 24-hour carers,” she told the BBC.
She said her parents were there in case the batteries of the device gave out, in which she would only have four minutes to get the artificial heart started again.
“At no point did it ever occur to me to give up,” she told the BBC at the time.
‘She Never Complained’
St Anne’s College—which called Henderson a “true scholar”—released a statement following her death.Her college teachers were cited in the statement as saying, “Becca’s positive outlook and her tremendous courage and determination were an inspiration to all those around her.
“In the hospital, while recovering from her first heart surgery, she wrote her first two academic papers, both of which she was subsequently asked to publish. And despite the enormous challenges of having a TAH, she never complained.”
The statement continued: “Our thoughts and condolences are with Becca’s heartbroken family and friends.”
The college further cited Henderson’s college instructors:
“Becca was a person of extraordinary courage, humour and intellectual achievement as well as potential. She had the admiration and affection of all who taught her and learned with her, students and tutors alike.”