Vegetarian Being Kept Alive with a Pig's Heart

You can’t make this stuff up.

Robyn Cairney, a teen from Scotland, is a vegetarian. Like many teens today, she is an avid animal lover, and practices vegetarianism for that very reason.

She also has a pig heart valve keeping her alive.

Cairney, a mobile phone sales consultant of Ruckazie, Glasgow, was diagnosed with aortic stenosis and regurgitation, a rare cardiac condition that resulted in her collapsing at the gym. While unaware of the condition in her body, Cairney suffered from a narrowing aorta, causing her blood to flow back to her heart.

After Cairney passed out during her workout, doctors told her that her condition warranted a removal of her heart valve immediately—and that they would be replacing it with one from a pig. They performed a successful open heart surgery on Cairney at the Golden Jubilee Hospital

“It was a big of a shock being a vegetarian, but I realized it was a life or death choice. Obviously everyone is going to pick life, so now I’m a vegetarian being kept alive by a pig,” she says.

Doctors say that the pig’s valve will last for twenty years, after wich Cairney will need another valve fitted to replace it. They also say that Cairney was very lucky; she very nearly could have suffered a heart attack during her collapse.

This raises the question: would you have made Cairney’s choice? How far would you go to maintain your animal rights ethics?

I love animals as well, and hate to see them needlessly killed or suffering. But given the choice, I would take a pig’s heart in—well, a heartbeat, mine or the pig’s. It’s the choice of survival—but is it an ethical one?

A few years ago I wrote to PETA to inquire if using animals for certain health needs—such as a seeing eye dog for blindness—was ethical in their book. I never received a letter back, so I’m not sure what their stance is—but I’ve always thought that such a use for animals was okay. The animals are just as likely to be treated as well as any other companion animal, right?

But this story takes that “animals for health needs” a bit further. I’ve stated before that I’m against animal testing in most circumstances, but after learning that some procedures tested on animals saved my daughter’s life, I decided that sometimes it’s a necessary evil. What do you think? Do you have to put people first sometimes when it’s absolutely crucial to survival—or is it hypocrisy?