Baku, January 14 (AZERTAC). Mexican medics managed to drop a donor heart on the street while it was being rushed for a transplant, reports the Guardian. The heart was being transported by a police helicopter to a hospital in Mexico City on Wednesday, in what police described as “a rapid, precision maneuver” after being flown in from León, in the state of Guanajuato.

In their haste to leave the helicopter, one of the medics tripped, dropping the cooler containing the heart. A bag containing the organ rolled out on to the concrete, along with ice and a bag of saline. Recovering their composure, the medics picked up the bag containing the heart, replaced it in the cooler and rushed onwards to the La Raza hospital. After almost four hours of surgery, hospital officials reported that the operation had been successful and “without incident”. But doctors will have to wait 72 hours to see if the recipient, a 20-year-old woman, has accepted the new organ, which was donated by a 24-year-old man who died on Tuesday after a car crash. A spokesman from Mexico`s health secretariat said of the incident: “Fortunately, the heart was protected and not damaged.” He explained that the heart was protected in a waterproof steel container, which meant it was never exposed to the outside environment. Nevertheless, Mexicans were quick to poke fun at the medics online. On the El Universal website, Huevara Nomedejancambiarlo wrote: “Congratulations to the Mexican physicians who successfully carried out the first transplant of ground beef.”