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Two-year-old Angel is getting a heart transplant in Seattle Wednesday.

SEATTLE – The first toddler in the Northwest implanted with a mechanical heart is in intensive care after undergoing successful human heart transplant surgery at Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center Wednesday night.

Back in February, two-year-old Angel's heart had failed. Doctors gave him a mechanical heart known as a Berlin Pump. The computerized device kept him alive until a donor heart could be found.

The Berlin Pump uses two tubes that are attached directly into the chambers of the heart. It allows the blood to flow into the pump, which is worn outside of the chest.

It was the first time a mechanical heart has been used on a child under the age of five here in the Northwest. Doctors had to seek special approval from the Food and Drug Administration for the surgery.

The operation to transplant a donor heart began at 9 a.m. Wednesday, then at ten. But there were delays in harvesting the donor organ. Then finally came the good news: The new heart arrived at Boeing Field around 5 p.m. Wednesday.

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Berlin Pump

First the mechanical heart was disconnected, then Angel's own heart. At 5:34 p.m., the donor heart arrived and the transplant began.

Just over an hour later, Angel was off the bypass machine and his new heart was beating on its own.

"Pretty much this heart is going to do well," said Dr. Gordon Cohen, Children's Hospital.

Twenty-four hours later, doctors are still optimistic about Angel's condition. Check back here for Angel's progress.