Enlarge image Surgeons during a lung operation. (© picture-alliance / David Ebener) The first transplantation of a donated lung from a living person was deemed a success. The recipient of the transplant, an 11-year-old boy who had received  pulmonary lobes from the lungs of both of his parents, was playing soccer on Wednesday in front of the hospital in Hanover where the operation was performed back in April. According to the physicians, this was the first such surgery to be performed in Germany, as pulmonary lobes had previously only been transplanted from deceased donors.

 
This surgery was the last hope for the boy, named Marius, the director of the hospital’s transplant department, Axel Haverich, said. The boy, who suffered from advanced-stage cystic fibrosis, was between life and death before the surgery. As no deceased donor lungs were available, the parents were forced to make the life-and-death decision. The parents were also said to have recovered from the surgery just fine.