Woman who inspired many after surviving her groundbreaking surgery in 2011 dies at 22

A young woman who once captured the hearts of many across the Tri-State with her medically groundbreaking and life-saving surgery has died.

Many people may remember Heather McNamara as a 7-year-old featured in a commercial for NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in 2011.

In the commercial, she explained how removing and then replacing many of her organs was the only way doctors could remove a baseball-sized tumor.

The rare 23-hour procedure was even the subject of an episode of "The Good Doctor."

In real life, world-renowned surgeon Dr. Tomoaki Kato removed six of Heather's major organs to cut out a cancerous tumor lodged deep in her body and put everything back together.

It was a surgery other doctors said could not be done. She was the first child to ever undergo the procedure and it was a success.

Eyewitness News reporter Kemberly Richardson had the pleasure to meet the dynamic duo in 2019 . By then, Heather was a freshman in college and said something about the surgery that now seems bittersweet.

"I was scared to die but I knew it would be OK if I did, if that makes sense," she said at the time.

Heather's mother announced that her daughter died Saturday, sharing the 22-year-old had spent months battling a bacterial infection and multi-organ failure.

Despite being so sick most of her life, Heather was a fighter. She was a graduate of Islip East Islip High School and she threw herself into volunteer work and service projects.

In a nod to the doctors and nurses who helped her, Heather was an EMT and planned on becoming a paramedic.

On Thursday, McNamara's mother shared with Eyewitness News, a list of things and wishes, they found on Heather's cell after she died.

"Know that I fought everyday. No one can come in if they don't have a picture with me. No ROSES-sunflowers only. No sad music only Christmas music-LOUD. Tell everyone my story," the list read.

Her family is asking others to honor Heather by doing an act of kindness in honor of a young lady who made the most out of every second she was alive.

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