Exclusive:
Amelia Bolter will be aged four on January 3 but had spent half her life in hospital awaiting a heart transplant surviving with the help of a mechanical heart
Little Amelia spent Christmas she can remember out of hospital this year after getting a lifesaving heart transplant.
Amelia Bolter, who is four on January 3, was 17 months when her mum Jodie Woolford took her to the GP for a suspected ear infection. She was later diagnosed with supraventricular tachycardia, which causes episodes of abnormally fast heart rates. She survived with the help of a “Berlin heart” based at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London for half her young life until the family finally got the call they had been waiting for in the spring.
The Mirror reported last Christmas how Amelia could not remember living anywhere else but this year she enjoyed opening her presents surrounded by loved ones at the family home in Chippenham, near Bristol.
Mum Jodie said: “We had a lot of ups and downs and kept dreaming about the day we got the call and went home to be a family of four. Our biggest fear was that Amelia would suffer a big stroke or infection that might make her seriously ill or worse. Amelia and her sister blossom are going to be big sisters again next year and me and their dad are getting married in the summer so that’s very exciting. We are so excited to be at home for Christmas after we spent the last two Christmases in hospital.
“This year we are finally celebrating it at home as a family, making the house all christmassy. We just hope and pray more people say yes to organ donation.”
It comes as 280 children are on the waiting list for an organ transplant in the UK right now and face Christmas waiting for the ultimate lifesaving gift. The Mirror successfully campaigned for a law change to “deemed consent” in England from 2020 but bereaved families still have the final say.
Amelia’s story of hope comes after the Mirror reported on the story of three-year-old Zachary Bradford who is on the urgent waiting list for a liver and small bowel transplant and his family fear he won’t make it to the New Year. In 2023/24 some 252 children received a lifesaving or life changing transplant. Of these 151 were from a deceased donor and 101 from a living donor. Eight children sadly died on the waiting list for an organ transplant.
Before Amelia received her lifesaving transplant mum Jodie, 33, and dad Rich, 34, lived in the Sick Children’s Trust accommodation for Great Ormond Street with Amelia’s younger sister Blossom. Jodie said: “This will be Blossom’s first Christmas at home and her 2nd birthday is on the 23rd December so we will be having some family over with presents, balloons and cake. Amelia is so much happier and has so much more freedom. We enjoy the little things that everyone takes for granted like having a bath, going to the park or just out for a walk, seeing family and friends.
“We have done so much since the transplant, we have gone on holiday, beach, swimming, park, pumpkin picking, baking cakes, amelia goes to nursery and we are getting very excited about Christmas. We haven’t thought much about Amelia’s future we just keep making memories and enjoying every moment.
There were 39 deceased child organ donors in 2023/24. More young donors are needed to help the children waiting for a life-saving transplant. If organ donation is possible, parents will be asked to make a decision as part of their child’s end of life care. More than 7,900 people in the UK, including 280 children, face this Christmas waiting for an organ transplant.
Jody added: “As a family we are forever grateful for Amelia’s donor and family for saying yes to organ donation. There’s not enough words in the world to say thank you. One person can save up to nine lives and a little bit of them will always live on.”
To support donation on the NHS Organ Donor Register click HERE.
