Jodie Woolford’s daughter Amelia, three, has spent 19 months in hospital awaiting a life-saving heart transplant…
In June 2022, my little girl Amelia had been feeling a bit poorly for a few days, so I took her to see our GP. I wasn’t worried that it could be anything serious, but when the doctor checked Amelia’s pulse, he looked concerned. “Your daughter’s heartbeat is very fast,” he said. He immediately referred Amelia to Bath hospital and, on our way there, I nipped home to grab some overnight stuff just in case. I phoned my partner, Rich, and told him not to worry. “I’m sure we’ll be home soon,” I said.
But Amelia, then 17 months, became more unwell and her heart rate shot up even higher. The next thing I knew, we were being blue-lighted to Bristol Hospital and Rich raced there to meet us.
We were in a state of shock and, as our little girl lay sedated in intensive care, a doctor revealed that she had dilated cardiomyopathy – a disease of the heart muscle that prevents the organ pumping blood properly – and heart failure. “If you hadn’t brought Amelia in today, she would have died,” the doctor explained.
It was still very much touch and go. I was 11-weeks pregnant with our second child and I now feared our baby would never meet their big sister. But to our relief, Amelia’s condition improved and, after two weeks, she was transferred to the children’s ward where she stayed for the next three months. During that time, Rich and I stayed in hospital accommodation. Then that September, Amelia took an unexpected turn for the worse.
On 2 October, she was rushed back to intensive care after suffering from sepsis, pneumonia, a gut infection and an adverse reaction to her f lu jab. “Amelia needs a heart transplant,” a doctor told us. We’d already been warned that it may be on the cards and now Amelia needed to be transferred to Great Ormond Street Hospital [GOSH] as soon as a bed became available to be fitted with a Berlin Heart – a mechanical pump that works outside the body to take over pumping blood – and put on the transplant waiting list. On 30 October, she was taken to GOSH in London. Rich and I moved into nearby hospital accommodation at The Sick Children’s Trust and took turns to be by Amelia’s side in intensive care. Fortunately, Rich was able to get a work transfer with his Royal Mail job and my midwife appointments were referred to GOSH. Amelia remained on the ventilator while doctors tried to clear up her infections and, at the end of November, she was well enough to be fitted with her Berlin Heart.
The air-driven mechanical pump would now act as Amelia’s heart until a suitable donor was found. However, we were warned the wait could be at least two years because it would have to be the righ
