LONDON A transplant patient yesterday looked for the first time at the heart that failed her as it went on public display at an exhibition.

Jennifer Sutton, 23, from the New Forest, came face to face with her old heart, which she donated to The Heart exhibition at the Wellcome Collection in London.

She had the heart transplant at Papworth Hospital, Cambridge, three months ago after a diagnosis of cardiomyopathy, a potentially fatal condition in which the heart walls stiffen. Her first reaction on seeing the old heart was disgust, but later she described the experience as slightly surreal. She said: “Because it was mine, I was like, wow, that’s my heart, I just couldn’t stop grinning. It’s odd to think that I was stood here alive and that was part of me once upon a time.”

James Peto, the curator said: “To see the heart of a person still living is quite remarkable and Jennifer’s heart is definitely one of the most thought-provoking features of the exhibition.”

Other exhibits include work by Leonardo da Vinci, Andy Warhol and the Egyptian Book of the Dead. After the exhibition Jennifer’s heart will return to Papworth Hospital, which owns it.

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