‘I knew Mirror’s Max had her heart’

SHORTLY after the death of her niece, Charley saw our front page on Max’s transplant and told her sister Loanna: “I am sure he got Keira’s heart.”

Weeks later, thank-you cards arrived from Max and his parents Emma and Paul Johnson, confirming the news.

Loanna feels a closeness to Max because his loving, vibrant personality reminds her of her beloved daughter. She said: “When I told my sister about Max’s card she replied, ‘I just knew it’.”

The families have since kept in touch. Loanna said: “Max’s family sent us a beautiful figurine of a little girl. That meant so much to me.

“Keira’s heart could not have gone to a nicer person, a nicer family. There is a part of her who lives on, it’s as simple as that. Joe’s mum lives in Poynton, Cheshire, near Max, and they feel Keira is closer to them.”

Emma, of Winsford, burst into tears when Loanna got in touch: “It was a wave of emotion, everything we had been through seemed to culminate in that moment.”