LONDON - In a world’s first recovery of its kind, a Brit girl who had her heart transplant operation reversed after her own heart was deemed fit is now healthy enough to play, swim, and run.

Hannah Clark, 16, from Mountain Ash, in South Wales, underwent the innovative surgery as a two year-old, “piggybacking” a new organ onto her own, failing, heart.

The transplanted heart was on top of her own heart to add extra support.

But, after 10 years, she began to have small cancer tumours because of the immuno-suppressant drugs necessary to prevent her heart rejecting the transplant.

Thus, the surgeons decided to detach the transplanted heart, hoping that the original organ might have redeemed itself.

And now, three years later, the teenager has just sat her GCSEs, enjoys swimming and running and has even started a part-time job in a kennel-all of which would have been impossible before her transplant was reversed.

Speaking at an emotionally charged press conference in London, Hannah said that the lesson she had learnt was “just never give up”.

“I would not be here but for the surgeons who operated on me and for the donor, and I would like to thank them,” the Telegraph quoted her as saying.

Her surgeon, Prof Sir Magdi Yacoub, from Imperial College London, described the operation to reverse the heart transplant as “unique”. (ANI)