The life of a 16-year-old girl was saved by getting 190 cm of small intestine from her father, Xi'an Evening News reported on Aug 21.

Zhang Yan, from Huining county, Gansu province, had an infected small intestine and was sent to a hospital in Xi'an in May 2011.

Doctors removed the infected intestine in May last year and had to wait for a suitable donor.

Early this month, doctors decided to use some of the small intestine from the girl's father, who has a different blood type, as the girl's condition was turning dangerous. The transplant operation was carried out on Aug 12 and the girl and father are both in good condition now.

Wu Guosheng, the lead surgeon, said there have only been four successful cases of transplanting a small intestine between people with different blood types, which could cause rejection.

"The girl is in good condition and will have something to eat after two more weeks of recovery," the doctor said.