A toddler is stuck in hospital waiting for a heart transplant after 'cold' virus left her with end stage heart failure. Evie Green, three, was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy - heart muscle disease - aged four-months-old, but thanks to medication, she was fit and healthy.
In January she caught a common 'cold-like' virus which left her breathless. But the virus put pressure on her heart, putting her in end stage heart failure, and she had to have a mechanical device fitted to her heart.
She even suffered a cardiac arrest during the terrifying eight-hour op. Thankfully she pulled through, but doctors said she needs a new heart, and is on the transplant list.
Evie's mum, Chloe Green, 27, says her daughter is now stuck in hospital until they match her with a child donor. The mechanical heart needs constant supervision by doctors and nurses, and until she has transplant, it is the only thing keeping her alive.
Chloe, a local authority worker from Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, said: "Evie was rushed to hospital and fitted with a mechanical heart, but doctors say she can't leave until she has a full transplant. The mechanical heart she's had inserted controls blood flow going around her body.
"She can't leave hospital without a new heart, but there's not enough child organ donors for the amount of sick children. On average, we've been given a waiting time of nine to 12 months, but it could well be longer.
"Plus, there's no guarantee of an exact match. It's a total lottery. My aim is to raise awareness of the benefits of child organ donation.
"Providing the gift of life for someone else is an incredible concept, and, currently, Evie's life depends on receiving that gift."
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Evie was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy in October 2019. The heart muscle disease causes the left ventricle of the heart to stretch abnormally.
Apart from occasionally suffering breathlessness and urinary incontinence, she was able to recover. Mum-of-two Chloe said: "Her dilated cardiomyopathy diagnosis was a shock to us, and we were petrified at the thought of losing our daughter.
"But she's a fighter, and she responded well to the medication doctors gave her. We knew we had to be wary of her condition, and she was vulnerable to viruses and infections, but for three years she was completely fine.
She swabbed positive for a respiratory syncytial virus infection (RSV) in January. The infection causes symptoms similar to a cold, including a runny nose, a cough, and sometimes a fever.
"We went for a routine check-up and it showed the extreme stress her heart was under - the results were terrifying," she said. The virus put her heart under extreme stress, and she was fitted with an emergency ventricular assist device (VAD) at Freemans Hospital in Newcastle.
The machine assists the heart pump blood around the body. Although the tot suffered a cardiac arrest mid operation, thankfully, surgeons were able to stabilise her.
She is now recovering well, but Chloe has been told she won't be able to leave hospital until she has a heart transplant. Chloe says they're relying on a child organ donor, but the waiting list is long, and there is no guarantee of a perfect match.
She said: "It's not a case of begging for someone's heart, I just want parents who lose their children to be alive to the power they have to help another family when they need it most."
