A medical device that saves the lives of children is widely used in Europe, but very hard to find in this country. It's called a Berlin Heart, and recently, it's credited with saving the life of a two-year-old girl.

Before her second birthday, Serafina Akard got very, very sick. She was sleeping more and eating less. Then, she had trouble breathing.
"Her cardiologist admitted her to ICU, and it was that night that she went into cardiac arrest," said her mother Suzanne.

Serafina needed a transplant, but finding a heart could take months ... time Serafina didn't have.

"She had just days or at most a couple of weeks," said cardiologist Stephen Roth.

Doctors said only a Berlin Heart could keep Serafina alive until she could get a transplant. It's a mechanical heart that helps weak hearts pump blood. The only catch? It's not FDA approved in the U.S.

"There is a pretty complicated process that we go through to get permission from the FDA, then permission from the company to import and use the device," said Roth.

The wait was agonizing, but Serafina's family never gave up.

"You can't actually sit and think, 'Oh, how terrible.' You have to keep pushing yourself and be strong for your child's sake," said Suzanne.

Doctors pushed through the mass of red tape and got the device in record time. When we caught up with Serafina, the Berlin Heart was attached to her chest.

"All those months, it was just heartbreaking, and now, here she is. She's not able to get up and do things yet, but she's just so aware and just so happy that it's wonderful," said Suzanne.

Serafina's doctors believe the best is yet to come: when Serafina can finally go home with a new heart.

Mechanical hearts are used here in the U.S., but the Berlin Heart is the only one small enough to be used in very young children.