Baby With Rare Defect Celebrates 1st Birthday With New Heart

This miracle baby is celebrating her first birthday with a new heart beating strongly inside her chest.

After little Rebecca was born last year, mom Christy Brown noticed her new daughter wasn't gaining weight. So she took her little girl to multiple doctors, who ended up diagnosing Rebecca with ALCAPA syndrome. With the rare congenital defect, the left coronary artery does not attach to the heart properly.

"It looks like a 7-year-old that has had a massive heart attack. There was so much damage to the left side of her heart," Brown told InsideEdition.com.

The condition can lead to heart failure.

"It turned me upside down. It turned us all upside down," Brown said.

Things took a turn for the worse for Rebecca after she had open heart surgery. She was given an artificial heart, and while waiting for a transplant, she suffered a brain bleed. She ended up spending six months in the ICU.

Then, when she recovered, Brown got the news she had been waiting for.

"The surgeon came in and nudged me awake and said, 'I think we have a heart for her.' And I sat up and looked around, like, I'm dreaming this. It can't be real," Brown said.

Just in time for her first birthday, Rebecca was home with her family and enjoying some cake for the occasion.

Doctors say the little trooper will make a full recovery.

"She's doing great. She sleeps through the night, which is very nice," Brown said, laughing.

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