Organ donation: Chippenham parents urge donors to come forward

Two-year-old Amelia and her family are living at the Great Ormond Street Hospital while she waits for a heart transplant

The parents of a two-year-old girl waiting for a transplant are urging people to consider organ donation.

Amelia from Chippenham has been waiting for a heart transplant at Great Ormond Street Hospital since October last year.

Her mum Jodie said there should be more awareness of organ donation before the death of a loved one, so people can consider all options.

She said: "You don't really get told until someone you love has passed."

"In that time you're grieving at the loss of your loved one and you have to make a decision to hand over their organs."

"Whereas I think if they talk about it beforehand then when it does come to a situation where somebody has passed away then you know all the details and you've already made a choice about donating or not donating," she added.

Jodie said she first noticed something was wrong with Amelia when she started to rub her ears and "she thought she had a ear infection".

Jodie said she then took her daughter to the GP where they later referred her to the Royal United Hospital in Bath with suspected bronchitis.

'Keeps her alive'

Jodie was told Amelia had heart failure and they were transferred to Bristol Children's Hospital where she got "sicker and sicker".

Amelia's dad, Rich, said his daughter was supposed to be there for three months but after spouts of infections, sepsis and pneumonia, she was eventually transferred to London's Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital in October where she has remained since.

Amelia has since been fitted with a left ventricular assist device (LVAD), which is implanted in the chest and helps pump blood from the lower left heart chamber to the rest of the body.

Jodie said: "It just keeps her alive and going until the day comes where she has a heart transplant."

Jodie said she was looking forward to going home with Amelia and her youngest daughter Blossom once a transplant is found

On how the past year has been for the family, who welcomed daughter Blossom during their stint in hospital, Jodie said: "It's been a rollercoaster. We've had bad times and we've had happy times."

She said "very cheeky" and "smiley" Amelia has been learning Makaton as they sit waiting.

Rich, who works for Royal Mail, said: "She's ready to have the operation - she's in good spirits and looking well. It's just a waiting game really."

'Live on'

To those thinking about organ donation, Jodie said: "A bit of them will live on through someone else."

"We always say without an organ donor there is no story, no hope, no transplant but when there is an organ donor life springs from death, sorrow turns into hope and a terrible loss becomes a gift."

On when their organ donor eventually comes forward, Jodie said they are just looking forward to leaving hospital to "go home".

"We're just going to create memories. So the person who gives Amelia the heart, the gift of life, we will take them with us on the journey."