Sarah Murnaghan Appears to be Doing Well After Second Lung Transplant

Two transplants later, the nation's most famous lung transplant recipient is awake and seems to be in good spirits, based on a video her mother, Janet Ruddock Murnaghan, shared of her 10-year-old daughter Sarah blowing a kiss and waving at the camera.

After an emotional and highly-publicized fight against the national lung donor network, Sarah's parents reported that their daughter, who has end-stage cystic fibrosis, suffered a primary graft failure (PGF) upon receiving her first set of lungs - a reaction, according to CBS News, that resulted due to the poor quality of the organs.

Sarah was promptly re-enlisted for another set of lungs, which she received almost immediately. The family accepted the lungs despite the fact that they were infected with pneumonia because, according to her mother, Sarah was running out of time.

As of yet, Sarah's body has shown no signs of rejecting the lungs, according to ABC, who cited the parents as calling the second surgery "truly a success."

The news station further reported that Sarah had to undergo diaphragm surgery Tuesday because her diaphragm was partially paralyzed during the two transplants, which in turn made it difficult for her to breathe on her own. 

The girl first made headlines when her parents, desperate to save their daughter, fought a rule they argued unfairly kept the girl out of the running for adult lungs, which are far more common than those donated by children younger than 12 or even those from individuals between 12 and 17.

Then, on June 5, federal Judge Michael Baylson in Philadelphia where the family is located, ruled that Murnaghan and 11-year-old Javier Acosta, another child in the hospital where Sarah was staying, should be eligible for adult lungs.

The decision forced the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) to create a second database entry for the children with a fake birthday in order to trick the transplant system into thinking she was 12.

"Today is the start of Sarah's new beginning and new life!" her mother wrote when they found her daughter had been allotted lungs, adding that the donor's family "has experienced a tremendous loss, may God grant them a peace that surpasses understanding."