Tulsa teen makes medical history with groundbreaking heart surgery

A Tulsa teenager is making history after his successful surgery to reconstruct his heart valve with his own tissue. The team at Oklahoma Children's Hospital says Kayne Hesskamp is the first in the world to have this procedure.

Kayne was born with a heart murmur. He knew one day he would need surgery, but he had no idea he'd be making history. His success is already prompting similar surgeries for other heart patients.

16-year-old Kayne Hesskamp is a lot like most boys his age.

"I like to play soccer, hang out with my friends, play video games, stuff like that,” said Kayne.

He's able to have a normal life after historic open heart surgery last June at Oklahoma Children's Hospital in Oklahoma City.

Dr. Harold Burkhart says Kayne had a narrow leaky valve. Instead of using a typical mechanical valve, doctors used Kayne's tissue to reconstruct it.

"We used part of his aorta, the big artery that comes out that the valve's down in, we cut part of the wall out and reconstruct the leaflets with that and then we replace his aorta with a patch,” said Dr. Burkhart.

Dr. Burkhart says using his own tissue means they're less likely to have to replace the valve and there's no need to take blood thinners.

Kayne was able to go home in just five days.

"It's nice knowing that I had those people to help me through it,” said Kayne.

Kayne's mom, Jacy, says her son was set up for success every step of the way.

"We deep dove into therapy just to talk about it with somebody and figured out emotions and how we were feeling,” said Jacy.

Oklahoma Children's Hospital says after Kayne's success, several other patients there have had similar surgeries.

"It was the first time it had been done, so it actually, we got to present it at our national meeting, and it was published in our journal that's looked at throughout the world, so hopefully this will help other places,” said Dr. Burkhart.

Now, Kayne says he's feeling great and grateful to have contributed to medical history.

"It makes me feel good knowing other people will be able to do the same thing,” said Kayne.

Kayne's doing so well, he’s back to playing soccer and needs only routine check-ups about once a year.

He and his mom plan to visit the medical team to thank them for taking such great care of him.

Oklahoma Children's Hospital says before Kayne's procedure, Dr. Burkhart had to show he could do it in a pig valve heart to prove he understood the new technique.