A teenage girl who lived four months without a heart is now out of the hospital.

Her surgeons recently talked about the device that kept her alive, one that had never before been used in a child.

While waiting for a transplant, Dzhana Simmons lived without a human heart for 118 days, an unprecedented case because she's only 14. Dzhana was hooked up to a so-called Miami artificial heart, custom made by the transplant team at UM/Jackson. She describes it as a scary experience, and so did Louis Quarterman. In 2006, he was a man without a heart for 48 days, but doctors say Dzhana's age makes her unique.

Dzhama and her mother came to Holtz Children's Hospital in May from South Carolina. Her heart was too large and weak. A transplant was performed in July but the donor heart failed. Depending solely on a device to keep her blood circulating was nerve-racking for Dzhana.

The second transplant seems to be working well. During a press conference Dzama was overcome with emotion thanking her surgeons.