BABY GIRL GETS GIFT OF LIFE WITH DONATED HEART : TRANSPLANT INCREASES CHANCES.

Byline: Douglas E. Beeman Riverside Press-Enterprise

Christmas came three weeks late for Raechelle Neufeld. Despite the wait, she got the gift of a lifetime: a new heart.

Doctors at Loma Linda University Children's Hospital replaced the infant's damaged heart last week with a healthy new one. Without it, Raechelle would have died.

Late or not, the heart was just the gift her brother, Matthew, had been praying for.

With his mother's help, 4-year-old Matthew had written a letter to Santa in the weeks before Christmas asking not for boxloads of toys, but for a new heart for Raechelle.

``You could ask Jesus to give my baby sister her new heart,'' his letter pleaded.

Raechelle was born Oct. 25 with hypoplastic left-heart syndrome, a birth defect that leaves the heart's left side - its powerhouse - underdeveloped. If left untreated, the defect is fatal.

For the past 11 weeks, Jacqueline and Brad Neufeld of Redlands have been waiting for a new heart for their newborn. As they waited, their daughter's condition slowly worsened. She labored to breathe. Her heart weakened.

``There were times when it seemed getting a heart was a fairy tale, not a reality,'' Brad Neufeld said.

On Monday afternoon, fairy tale became reality. Just before 5 p.m., Loma Linda's transplant unit telephoned Jacqueline Neufeld to say that a heart had been found.

At first, Jacqueline started crying. Matthew tried to brush away his mother's tears, telling her everything was OK.

``He thought something had happened to her,'' Jacqueline Neufeld said. Once she explained that Raechelle was getting a heart, they both jumped about like screaming maniacs.

Led by Dr. Leonard Bailey, who pioneered infant heart transplants at Loma Linda University, the transplant team began operating at 2 a.m. Tuesday. Four hours later, they were done.

By Tuesday afternoon, Raechelle's cheeks had pinked a bit.

``We're ready to bust her out of here,'' Jacqueline Neufeld said.

Raechelle will remain at least three weeks in the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit while doctors watch for signs of rejection, said Dr. Andrew Hopper, one of Raechelle's neonatologists.

Raechelle is Loma Linda's 209th pediatric heart transplant since the hospital began doing them in 1985. About 82 percent of Loma Linda's patients have survived beyond five years.

Nationwide, about 100 infant hearts are transplanted each year, and finding parents willing to donate their children's organs is extremely difficult, organ transplant experts say.

At Loma Linda, about a third of the children who need new hearts die waiting.

Knowing that, Jacqueline Neufeld gathered Matthew's nightly prayers into a letter to Santa. The Neufelds publicized Matthew's letter in December, hoping to raise awareness about the need for organ donors for young children. They believe it may have helped their daughter.

As happy as they are for Raechelle's heart, the Neufelds are mindful that their joy is mirrored elsewhere by the sorrow of the donor's family. Loma Linda officials said the heart came from a child elsewhere in Southern California, but declined to be more specific.

Wherever it came from, the Neufelds are grateful those parents agreed to donate.

Brad Neufeld said: ``It's the greatest gift anyone can give.''