Heart transplant hero Beatrix, 2, joins dad Terry in call for people to sign up for organ donation to save lives

Sunderland Echo

Terry Archbold was joined by his daughter Beatrix, two - who received a new heart in June - to promote the importance of organ donation.

Transcript

00:00 I'll give you a wave and take your picture.

00:03 Don't press your pedal though.

00:05 Foot on the floor.

00:05 Keep your feet on the floor.

00:10 - Dad, can you go round to the other side

00:13 so we've got a head rather than a butt.

00:15 (laughing)

00:18 - Okay then, Terry,

00:21 if you'd just start by telling me a bit

00:22 about Beatrix's situation

00:24 and what her situation is currently.

00:26 - Yeah, so when Beatrix was 15 months old,

00:29 she fell ill suddenly with heart failure.

00:33 There was emergency admission to the Freeman

00:37 where she was found to have a condition

00:39 called dilated cardiomyopathy.

00:41 They went into cardiac arrest

00:46 and her life was saved

00:49 by the intensive care team up there.

00:52 And she had to have emergency surgery

00:57 to connect her to an artificial mechanical heart

01:01 which kept her alive for the next 14 months

01:06 while she waited for a heart transplant.

01:08 - And just how anxious was that for you

01:11 before donor came forward?

01:12 - The honest answer is every day we wondered

01:17 whether that would be her last.

01:19 Wondering whether a donor would be available.

01:23 Wondering if the team could keep her going

01:25 and keep her alive while she waited for that heart to come.

01:29 It was, yeah, difficult.

01:33 - I understand there's a shortage of donators,

01:35 so just how important is it that people do come forward?

01:38 - It's really important.

01:39 If you look at Bea now,

01:41 full of life and with her life ahead of her,

01:44 and you look at all of the children

01:47 that have been saved by donors,

01:51 that's all possible due to parents being able to say yes

01:56 when they are asked if they would consent to organ donation.

01:59 At the minute, there's over 250 children across the country

02:06 waiting for life-saving transplants.

02:09 But sadly, on average, only 50 child donors per year

02:13 because it's an incredibly difficult decision

02:17 in the midst of loss to talk about and to think about.

02:22 So the question is, if you would accept a donated organ

02:31 to save your child, would you give that same gift of life

02:35 to save several others?

02:37 - On this wrist.

02:42 Right, hold on to that bit as well then.

02:44 Hold on tight.

02:46 Don't let it fly away.

02:47 - Okay, so what is the situation

02:52 with organ donation at the moment,

02:53 and how vital is it that people come forward?

02:55 - So at the moment in the UK,

02:57 there's about 7,000 people on the waiting list

02:59 awaiting to receive an organ.

03:01 That might be heart, lungs, kidney, liver.

03:05 Within the UK, there's only 1% of the population

03:07 that die in circumstances that are in a position

03:10 to save other people's lives

03:11 through the amazing gift of organ donation.

03:14 - And how can people sign up?

03:15 What do they need to do?

03:16 - So the easiest way to sign up

03:18 is by going onto the NHS Organ Donor Register

03:21 and confirming your decision to donate.

03:24 - Daddy, what funny faces do I do?

03:28 - Silly ones.

03:29 - Silly ones?

03:30 (laughing)

03:32 - You guys just keep looking straight towards.

03:34 (laughing)

03:36 - Yeah, you lot have all gotta be here.

03:37 (laughing)

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