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A life in the service of children
Francine Leca is a pioneer, the first female cardiac surgeon in France, head of the cardiac surgery department at the Laennec and Necker hospitals, she founded Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque in 1996.
Born in 1938 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Francine Leca studied medicine at a very young age. During an internship in Professor Jean Mathey's cardiac surgery department at the Laennec Hospital, she witnessed her first open-heart operation. It was love at first sight. Her vocation was born: she would repair hearts!
"From then on, nothing would stop her: neither illness, nor travels to the four corners of the world to save children, nor desperate cases, such as that of little Abdel, whom she had to give up operating on, nor failures, with death, always terrible, never tamed.
After becoming an intern at the Paris hospitals, she discovered cardiac surgery for children with Professor George Lemoine. She specialised in congenital heart disease and became the first woman heart surgeon in France.
Head of the cardiac surgery departments of the Laennec and Necker hospitals (Paris) until 2003, Professor Leca was made a Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur in 1995, an Officier de l'Ordre National du Mérite in 2009 and a Grand Officier in the Ordre de la Légion d'Honneur in 2019.
In 1996, she decided to commit herself to the children of the world and founded Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque. Thanks to her commitment and that of more than 350 host families, volunteers and referring doctors, nearly 4000 children have been operated on in nine hospitals in France since 1996.
Podcast Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque : "At the heart of the action". 1996, Francine Leca receives a letter from a desperate father. A heartfelt story.
Podcast: Vieille Branche "Sonder les Cœurs" with Francine Leca, hosted by Marie Misset, produced by Nouvelles Écoutes, in partnership with Radio Nova.
Fixing the hearts of children born with heart defects means giving them a second birth. For Preston, it also gave him the chance to fulfill one of his wildest dreams with his foster family.
The Trophée du Cœur, organized for the first time in 1997, is the oldest event produced by the association. On Tuesday, April 18th, the 26th edition kept its promises by gathering 300 golfers in the magnificent setting of the Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche Golf Club, and broke records because for the first time we will be able to operate on 15 children at the end of the event!!!
The 6th edition of the Soirée du Cœur, which has become an unmissable event for the Association at the beginning of the year, was held on Monday, March 27 in the magnificent setting of the Salle Gaveau. This gala evening will allow us to operate on 4 children with heart disease in the world.
Running the Schneider Electric Marathon de Paris is a sporting feat. The Coureurs du Cœur have chosen to make it a feat of solidarity by raising a minimum of €420 each for children with heart disease and by wearing the Association's colors during the race on Sunday, April 2, 2023.
