Man United star Falcao saved my son's life, mother tells Colombian TV following heart transplant
Radamel Falcao, pictured, must prove his worth, according to Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal
Manchester United striker Radamel Falcao has helped a Colombian teenager to find a donor for a heart transplant, the patient’s mother told the Efe news agency in Bogotá.
The on-loan United striker has been hailed after hearing the plight of 17 year-old John Andrés Uyaban who had been on the waiting list for two years for a transplant.
That prompted Falcao to post a Facebook message that read: “Help us get a new heart for John Andrés, a 17-year-old kid with all the desire to keep fighting.”
The Facebook page has more than 12 million likes and the gesture helped publicise the teenager's need for a transplant. Ten days later John Andrés received news that he would receive the heart of another young man from Medellín, who had died in an accident.
“I give thanks to God and Falcao – he’s related to some cousins of mine who talked first to his father [Radamel Garcia] seeking his help in this effort,” John Andrés’s mother, Sara Fernández told Colombian media.
Fernández said she did not speak directly to Falcao because he was busy training at Manchester United “but he found out anyway and decided to help us”, she added.
Today on his page the United star said that the operation will give John Andres a "new life".
"Thanks to all for helping secure a new heart for John Andres!" he posted on his page. "The guy has had his operation and his new heart has given him a new life! Thanks a million/Thank you very, very much."
The teenager underwent the transplant operation last week and is now recuperating at the Bucaramanga cardiovascular foundation in northern Colombia, where he is in the initial recovery stage.
