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Woman thriving after first-of-its-kind transplant 01:33 (CNN)After years of struggling to breathe and fearing she might suffocate in her sleep, Sonia Sein says she feels well enough to dance around with her grandchildren after undergoing the first-ever human trachea transplant at Mount Sinai in New York. "For me, it felt like right after, I was able to breathe. When I took that first breath it was heaven," said Sein, who had the life-changing surgery in January. The 56-year-old former social worker's trachea was damaged in 2014 when she had to go on a ventilator because of a bad asthma attac...

Experts say it’s too soon to deem Sein's transplant a total success — which UNOS said is the first of its kind in the U.S. Sein has to take powerful drugs to prevent organ rejection, but doctors hope to try to wean her off in a few years. Less than three months after the operation, there haven't been complications or signs of rejection. “If it was going to be a failure, we would know by now. It’s quite promising,” said Dr. Alec Patterson, a transplant surgeon at Washington University in St. Louis who was not involved in the operation. "It’s a major step forward.”

Marion Renault And Marshall Ritzel Trachea transplant recipient Sonia Sein talks with the lead surgeon of her procedure, Dr. Eric Genden, left, and Dr. Sandy Florman during a checkup visit at Mt. Sinai hospital in New York on Monday, March, 22, 2021. Doctors say this operation could help other people including COVID-19 patients left with serious windpipe damage from breathing machines. (AP Photo/Marshall Ritzel) April 06, 2021 - 6:13 AM NEW YORK - Sonia Sein said she spent the last six years “trying to catch every breath at every moment" after extensive treatm...

Sonia Sein, 56, underwent the first trachea transplant in the U.S. in January  The procedure may even be a world-first, but this was not confirmed by UNOS Sein said she spent the past six years 'trying to catch every breath at every moment' after being intubated during an asthma attack damaged her trachea The trachea, or windpipe, is difficult to transplant due to its complex system of blood vessels and tiny hairs that are key to its function  Sein is recovering and so far doing well, and breathing easily  As many as half of Covid patients put on ventilators sustain trachea damage, accordi...