Abbott employee inspects heart implant used in daughter's lifesaving surgery

When physicians diagnosed Bao Lee with a large hole in her heart, she knew exactly who to turn to: her mother.

Lee's mother, Mai See Vang, has spent the last two decades building and inspecting medical devices for Saint Paul, Minn.-based St. Jude Medical, which Abbott Park, Ill.-based Abbott acquired in early 2017, reports FOX9.

When Ms. Vang learned her daughter would be treated with the very same device she inspects on a daily basis, she asked her boss if she could examine the exact implant that physicians would use to close the hole in her daughter's heart.

"I told them, 'I want the one that I inspect for my daughter — I want a really good one for [her],'" Ms. Vang told FOX9.

Ms. Lee underwent a successful surgery two years ago and her health continues to improve.

"It's neat to know that I'll always have a piece of [my mom as] a part of me forever," Ms. Lee told FOX9.

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