Malorie Blackman has said she “called it” after US doctors transplanted a pig’s heart into a patient, mirroring the plot of one of her early novels.

       The author wrote about a similar operation in her 1997 children’s book Pig Heart Boy, the story of 13-year-old Cameron Joshua Kelsey who has a serious heart condition.

       Cameron accepts experimental surgery from a transgenics expert and becomes the subject of intense media attention.

       The book was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal literary award and adapted for TV by the BBC.

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       Responding to news of the transplant, 59-year-old Blackman wrote on Twitter: “I hope it works out for the man involved. Can’t help but have a little smile though.”

       The Noughts & Crosses writer added the hashtags #calledit and #PigHeartBoy.

       In a second tweet, Blackman said: “More info on the world’s first pig heart transplant – xenotransplantation from a genetically modified pig.

       “At least I got my facts correct in my book Pig Heart Boy! Good luck to David Bennett.”

       Author Maloria Blackman wished transplant patient David Bennett ‘good luck’ (University of Maryland Medical Centre/PA)

       (PA Media)

       The surgery at the University of Maryland Medical Centre in Baltimore last Friday took seven hours.

       The pig was genetically engineered so its organs could survive in a human body.

       Patient David Bennett is reported to be doing well and breathing on his own without a ventilator.

       The 57-year-old was not eligible to be put on the transplant list and is said to have thought that medics were joking when the operation was initially proposed.

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       In Pig Heart Boy, Cameron’s father secretly contacts transgenics expert Dr Richard Bryce before the operation is offered as an option to his son, who has been diagnosed with a terminal condition.

       Like Mr Bennett, Cameron initially responds with shock at the idea.