A girl who had a second heart grafted on to her own after suffering heart failure as a toddler has spoken for the first time about how “empty” she felt when it was removed.

Hannah Clark, 16, had a donor heart grafted on to her own when she was two years old, allowing her organ time to recover, said that she had “been given a second chance” by the ground-breaking series of operations.

Speaking for the first time since the removal of the transplanted organ three years ago, which left her own heart effectively fending for itself, she said that initially she had “woken up feeling a bit empty”, but now enjoyed the same freedoms as all her friends.

“It was a very strange feeling at first — I could feel there was a bit more space inside me,” she said during an emotional press conference with her family and doctors yesterday. “But it’s changed everything. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for any of this.”

Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub, the leading heart surgeon, said that the operation had opened up many exciting new avenues for research, and provided vital information about the importance of organ donation.

Professor Yacoub said that while he had been uncertain five years ago about the idea of introducing a policy of presumed consent for organ donation — which would see people automatically placed on the donor register unless they request not to — he now felt that it was absolutely the right thing to do.

The family of Hannah Clark backed his calls for the introduction of the policy, which also has the support of the Prime Minister.

Hannah, from Mountain Ash, near Cardiff, said: “Thanks to this operation, I’ve now got a normal life just like all of my friends. I’ve just done my GCSEs, and I’ve now got a Saturday job looking after animals, which I couldn’t have done before. I’m really glad that I don’t have to rely on life-saving drugs anymore.”

Heart transplantation is a life-saving procedure in infants with heart failure caused by cardiomyopathy — a problem with the muscle of the heart. This condition occurs in fewer than two children per 100,000, and is up to 12 times more common in the first year of life than the subsequent years.

The prognosis is poor. However, it is theoretically possible for the patient’s own heart to recover — if they live long enough. Other options, such as mechanical hearts suitable for use in children, are being developed.

Hannah’s father, Paul, said: “If it wasn’t for the donor Hannah wouldn’t be here today. I thank the surgeons for giving back my daughter. Until this sort of thing happens to you, or to someone you love, you don’t realise how important organ donation is. We have all learnt really important lessons from this.”

Hannah had to take powerful drugs to stop her immune system rejecting the graft but the drugs caused her to develop a virus-associated cancer that led doctors to take the decision to remove the donor heart. This had never been done before. The operation took place in February 2006 at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. Doctors stopped giving Hannah immunosuppressive drugs and she recovered from the cancer.

Writing in an online edition of The Lancet medical journal today, the medical team at Harefield Hospital in London said that the procedure had been a complete success.

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