The woman, named as Penny by her friend Kelsey on photo sharing website Imgur, can be seen wearing a medical mask as she grips what appears to be her old heart.
‘Penny’ now has a new fully-functioning heart following the operation, her friend revealed on the site.
Posting the image of Penny on Imgur, Kelsey said: “[Penny] is holding her own heart. She has survived cancer and crippling heart failure and never lost hope.”
Her friend also revealed doctors had allowed Penny to take a photograph of her old heart before it was cremated. According to Kelsey’s profile, she had wanted to take her heart home but doctors refused.
She said: “She wanted to keep it but they wouldn’t let her! I said the same thing. It had to be cremated but she kept the ashes.”