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New life: The long road to a donor organ

Florian Nusch
September 16, 2023

Silke Schulze is seriously ill. If she does not get a new heart and lung soon, she will die.

https://p.dw.com/p/4WQ3R

For months, the 40-year-old has been waiting in a Berlin hospital for a life-saving organ donation. Adam Penkalla is a heart surgeon. If a suitable donor organ is found somewhere, he takes off to remove it and bring it safely back to Berlin. It's always a race against time. We accompany Silke Schulze on her long journey to a new life, and witness when she receives the life-saving organs in a 14-hour operation. We also follow Adam Penkalla as he travels abroad to remove a heart and bring it back to Berlin on a charter plane.

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