Mary Lara is weak and can hardly speak, but says this is the best Mother's Day ever.
"Yeah, I couldn't ask for anything else, it's wonderful," she said.
The 26-year-old from Reno is recovering in the ICU at California Pacific Medical Center with a new heart. She developed a rare heart condition called postpartum cardio myopathy eight years ago after giving birth to her daughter Shayleen
"And it turned into congestive heart failure," she said.
Lara was put on a heart transplant list last winter. The odds of getting a match were not good, but on Friday night doctors called with the good news.
"She was very calm," Lara said. "I was freaking out!"
The procedure took five hours. During that time, 8-year-old Shayleen never left her mom's side.
"I was really excited and kind of scared at the same time," Shayleen said.
"We don't put patients on a heart transplant list unless we think they have less than a year to survive," said transplant cardiologist Dr. Leslie Campbell, who said she knew Mary didn't have much time.
"And last night I thought we couldn't give her a better Mother's Day gift than a very good, suitable donor heart and the opportunity to raise her daughter," said Campbell. "It's amazing."
"She's awesome, I love my daughter, she stayed strong, she keeps me going," Mary said.
Lara thanked her team of doctors and especially the anonymous heart donor. It's given her a new life and a chance to spend many more Mother's Days with Shayleen.
