The Other Princess Diane

Most readers are familiar with the "real
Princess Diana." This book is about a courageous woman,
Diane Cummings, who was the first person with the Tetralogy
of Fallot (a congenital heart defect) to be operated upon by
Dr. Willis J. Potts in 1946. He was the pioneer surgeon who
developed an operation for this syndrome in infants who at
the time were deemed too young to have the operation.
Diane went on to lead a full life while subsequently
undergoing four more open-heart operations done by leaders
in the field For this to have happened, she survived four
episodes of subacute bacterial endocarditis due to unusual
bacteria. She was fortunate to be treated by a series of
doctors who have been and still are the pioneers in the
treatment of congenital heart disease. The doctors were:
Dr. Willis J. Potts of Children's Hospital in Chicago, the
originator of the Potts' operation; the father and son team
of Drs. James and John Kirklin who were at the University of
Alabama Heart Center; and Dr. Joseph Dearani of the Mayo
Clinic. She was a true inspiration during the remaining
forty-five years of her life. She died in January 2007,
having lived a full life for 62 years. This made her one of
the longest survivors on record of Potts' original
operation. This is her story.