Bogota (Colombia), Jan 23 (IANS/EFE): Colombian national team and Manchester United striker Radamel Falcao recently helped a 17-year-old countryman find a donor for a heart transplant, the patient's mother said.

After Falcao's cousins told him about the case of Colombian John Andres Uyaban, the player immediately posted a message on Facebook that read: "Help us get a new heart for John Andres, a 17-year-old kid with all the desire to keep fighting."

Ten days later, the family learned that the teen would receive the heart of another youth from Medellin who had died in an accident, John Andres' mother, Sara Fernandez, told Efe Thursday.

Her son, who underwent the transplant operation last week, is currently hospitalised at the Bucaramanga Cardiovascular Foundation in northern Colombia.

"I give thanks to God and Falcao; he's related to some cousins of mine who talked first to his father (Radamel Garcia) seeking his help in this effort," she said.

Fernandez said she did not speak directly with the player because he was in intensive training with his team, "but he (Falcao) found out anyway and decided to help us," she added.

John Andres, who had been on a waiting list for a donor heart for two years, is in the initial recovery stage and responding well to the transplant, his mother said.

"They're going to perform another small surgery and we hope it's not complicated," she added.

"I always had that hope that Falcao would help us because he's a public figure. Everyone listens to him and he's also very humble and really believes in God," Fernandez said.