Pa. transplant recipient still on breathing tube

(AP)—The mother of a 10-year-old Pennsylvania girl recovering after a double lung transplant says doctors tried to remove her breathing tube but were forced to reinsert it.

Janet Murnaghan (MUR'-nuh-han) says in a statement provided by a spokeswoman that her daughter, Sarah, "could not handle the reduced support" after the tube was removed Wednesday. She called the day "excruciating" and said it was "impossibly painful" watching her daughter struggle to breathe, so the girl was ultimately sedated and re-intubated.

Janet Murnaghan says doctors have assured the family that the day's events don't change Sarah's long-term prospects but just mean "she needs more time to regain her strength."

Sarah, who lives in Newtown Square, a Philadelphia suburb, suffers from severe cystic fibrosis. She underwent the transplant after a national debate over the organ allocation process.

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