Lorraine Sweeney Nicoli was born in 1930 and grew up in Boston, Massachusetts, the youngest of eight children born to Irish immigrants. As a child she was weak and tired easily, and her parents noticed a constant “buzzing” that seemed to come from her chest. Though doctors suspected she had congenital heart disease, no effective treatments were available. In response to her daughter’s increasing debilitation, Nicoli’s mother brought her to Boston Children’s Hospital in 1938, where they met a young surgeon, Robert E. Gross.

After examining Nicoli, Gross concluded that she had a patent ductus arteriosus (PDA). Surgery on the heart was not considered practical at this point in time. If feasible, ligation of a PDA could save many children from progressive heart failure and/or endocarditis. However, surgical ligation was not attempted until 1937, when an emergency procedure was performed by Dr. John Strieder on a 22-year-old woman with endocarditis at Massachusetts Memorial Hospital. The patient survived the operation, but died several days later. When Gross met Nicoli in 1938, he was ready to make his own attempt. Gross was a graduate of Harvard Medical School, trained in pathology, had completed a residency in general surgery at the Brigham, and was the surgical chief resident at Boston Children’s Hospital.

Gross was not the only one facing great risk in performing the surgery. Nicoli’s mother had lost her husband only a few months earlier. He was killed by a car as they crossed the street together near their home. Now her remaining years with her youngest child might be abruptly cut short if the procedure failed. The operation took place on August 26th, 1938.

The procedure was a success. It had taken two and a half hours. Within one day Nicoli was able to sit up in a chair, and within two she was walking around the hospital ward. Despite the fact that she was soon ready to be discharged, she remained hospitalized for nearly two weeks due in large part to the intense interest in the case. Nicoli was reunited with Gross after she married in 1949 and was expecting her first child in 1950. Her physician contacted Gross with concerns about the effect the pregnancy might have on her heart. Gross was confident there would be no cardiac problem. He also told Nicoli how grateful he had always felt towards her mother whose courageous decision “gave me my chance”. Gross had indeed bet his entire career on that operation and joked with Nicoli that if she had died, he would have “become a chicken farmer in Vermont.” “Well Doctor,” she replied, “Thank God I come from good Irish stock”!

Nicoli thereafter sent Gross a card each year on Valentine’s Day, signed “your wee heart girl”. The two remained in contact until Gross died in 1988 at the age of 83. Nicoli went on to have two sons with her husband Paul A. Nicoli (1924-2011). She became actively involved in the Massachusetts Heart Association as an Area Captain of the Heart Fund.

Nicoli was awarded the Heart Association’s national ‘Heart Mother of the Year’ award in 1963. For the award presentation day she was welcomed to New York City for various events, and appeared with Dr. Gross on NBC’s Today show. Her 75-year follow-up in 2013 made her the world’s longest known survivor of cardiac surgery.

Nicoli passed away on March 9, 2020, at 89 years old.

Sources: Murray, Lindsay; W. Hardy Hendren; John E. Mayer; Mark A. Rockoff. "A thrill of extreme magnety: Robert E. Gross and the beginnings of cardiac surgery.” Journal of Pediatric Surgery. 2013 Aug; 48(8):1822-5.

Sources also include materials found in the collection.