Rebecca Henderson, the young woman who wore an artificial heart in her backpack

"It was a privilege to have him as a girl and as a friend, the sky now has the brightest star we will love forever."

This is how the family of Rebecca Henderson reacted to the death of one of only two women in the United Kingdom to have used an artificial heart carried in a backpack.

Henderson, 24, was unable to undergo an operation to receive a donor organ and died of complications from the transplant. Relatives said she died last week at the Harefield hospital in the UK, "surrounded by family and friends."

In 2017, doctors had taken the heart of Rebecca, a postgraduate student at Oxford University, due to cancer.

Surgeon Stephen Westaby explained that "only a small number of people" suffered from heart cancer and that Henderson was a brave young woman. In October, he returned to study at Oxford, while wearing a backpack with a 7-kilogram artificial heart.

This device allowed him to lead an almost normal life while waiting for the heart of a donor.

How it works?

The pump of the device is responsible for pumping blood into tubes connected to the body in the region of the abdomen. This connection reaches the heart of the plastic implanted inside the ribcage.

"I never thought I'd give up – even though it's hard for me, even if it's hard for me, it'll be easier for the next person," he said. Henderson at the BBC at the time.

"Extraordinary Courage"

St Anne's High School, where he studied, paid tribute to his student's "unwavering determination" and his "contagious enthusiasm for university life".

"Becca was a person of courage, humor and extraordinary intellectual achievement, she had the admiration and affection of all those who taught and learned with her, students and teachers," she said. his guardians.

Janina Ramerez, an Oxford researcher and friend of Henderson, said that she was on Instagram "the strongest and most courageous person I've ever met".