THE parents of a desperately ill young girl have issued an urgent appeal for an organ donor to save her life with a new heart.
Two-year-old Beatrix Archbold has spent almost a year in hospital, being kept alive by an artificial ticker.
Brave Beatrix Archbold has spent nearly half her life in hospital being kept alive by an artificial heart
Beatrix’s parents have issued a renewed plea to find her a donor
But the machine is very risky.
Beatrix recently suffered blood clots, which could have caused a stroke.
Her father Terry, 45, said: “Beatrix is so brave — she’s always got a smile for everyone.
“But every day she’s on the artificial heart machine there is a risk to her life.
“So she desperately needs a donor to come forward and give her a new heart.
“We know that for Beatrix to have a new heart another family has to lose a loved one — and we understand how difficult donation decisions can be.”
Tragically, Terry and his council worker partner Cheryl, 41, of Burnopfield, Co Durham, were on the other side of the donor issue five years ago.
They donated the heart of their stillborn daughter Isabel for medical research after she died due to a complex cardiac disorder.
Beatrix fell ill last May when a rash appeared on the back of her neck.
She was taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead where doctors detected a heart murmur.
An X-ray showed one side of her heart was enlarged and she then suffered heart failure and went into cardiac arrest.
Police Sgt Terry said: “The doctors had to fight hard to bring her back.”
Beatrix, whose heart condition was not the same as Isabel’s, then had surgery at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital to attach her to a Berlin Heart Ventricular Assist device.