Little Kit is back home after his heart transplant
ONE of the stars of the first episode of Channel 4’s Geordie Hospital, Kit Matthews, then aged four, is recovering after the heart transplant he needed.
The youngster – from Retford in the Midlands – featured in the opening instalment of the series as he and his family prepared for him to be moved from one version of an artificial heart to another as he waits for a transplant.
The show was filmed last year, and Kit has now had that transplant and is “going from strength to strength” – but as his story is told on TV, both his family and the consultant who looked after him at the Freeman Hospital are keen to highlight just how important organ donation is.
Kit’s dad Joe is a heart-transplant recipient himself – and he told The Chronicle about a traumatic year for his young family.
“About April 16 was when it started. He wasn’t feeling the best. Kit loves chocolate – and we knew he wasn’t right as he just wasn’t interested,” he said.
“Naturally we just thought he had a bad childhood cold like everyone else. Hannah my wife took him to the GP and they took some bloods but everything came back alright. He was still off his food.”
After Joe and Hannah were told to take Kit to hospital, alarm bells began to ring for medics and they were quickly referred to hospital in Leeds.
This was especially difficult as Kit’s little brother Monty was just two at the time – and the family had to spend lots of time apart.
Joe continued: “On the Saturday we got referred up to Leeds. Kit was just four and everyone wanted a piece of him to take bloods and do scans. It was awful for Hannah and myself, but clearly really horrible for him.”
Soon after, when it became clear quite how poorly Kit’s heart was – he, like his dad more than a decade ago was suffering from cardiomyopathy – the family were told he would need specialist care rapidly. Space was available at the Freeman’s world-renowned children’s heart unit.
Joe added: “We arrived on the Monday evening and they operated to put him on the VAD (ventricular assist device).
“We had gone from him wrestling with his brother to him in surgery in a
critical condition, pretty much just like that.
“And we knew he might not survive the operation even.”
Kit pulled through though, and was fitted with a Berlin Heart (a type of artificial heart device) – which kept him alive while he waited for a transplant. That transplant happened later in the year and by Christmas Kit was at home with his family.
Joe said: “Now, he’s gone from strength to strength. He’s really shown how strong he really is and how resilient kids are. The majority of adults even would have given up.
“He doesn’t stop running. We have our Kit back.
“He’s almost exactly the same, if anything, he’s matured.”
Speaking before the show aired, Joe said he was looking forward to seeing Geordie Hospital – though he wasn’t sure his eldest son felt the same.
“For him, now it’s something done,” he said. “I don’t think he really wants to revisit it.
“But for me, it’s important I want everyone to see the benefit transplants can have. To spread that message and raise awareness.”
Dr Emma Simpson, a paediatric intensive care consultant who looked after Kit, agreed: “Society needs to sit up and realise there are children in hospital with heart failure and they need transplants.
“Without the generosity of families at the most difficult time imaginable, there’s not be hope for children like Kit.
“Organ donation is something that needs to be discussed.”
Geordie Hospital airs on Mondays on Channel 4 from 8pm. It will also be available on All4.