Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Aimee, 10, cut off from world as she waits for a life-saving transplant
Heart hope schoolgirl can’t leave hospital before op
A FAMILY is facing a life-and-death crisis that will take the compassion of strangers to make right.
Aimee Brady, 10, has spent the last six months in the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children hoping for a heart transplant.
She cannot leave due to her extreme drug regimen and is not permitted many visitors for fear of infection.
Her brother Taylor, 14, is still at home in Magherafelt, Co Derry, being looked after by his grandmother Jean.
His mum Valerie is at Aimee’s side six days and nights a week while dad Stephen, 36, has now had to give up his job to help look after everyone.
Aimee requires 24/7 monitoring by specialist doctors and nurses.
Valerie, 36, remains by her side as her full time carer except for one day a week when she returns home to do the family’s laundry and give Taylor all the attention she can muster.
The Bradys are already out of money with credit cards maxed from hospital parking fees and the cost of living.
But they have no choice but to keep going in the hope Aimee will get her life-saving phone call.
She was born with a severe heart d defect, but her deteriorating health means she is now in the “window of opportunity” for a transplant.
DESPERATE
Valerie said: “We knew that Aimee would one day be in hospital in desperate need of a heart transplant, but we hoped she’d have had longer at home. It wasn’t to be. She has already had three major heart operations, the first when w she was six days old, the next when she was 18 months old and one five years ago.
“She went into heart failure shortly after that and now, aged 10 she is waiting for a stranger to save her life. “This transplant would be her fourth life saving surgery and we know it’ll take the compassion of someone we’ve never met to be good enough to have signed up to the organ donor register. “Other than a matched donor aged 35 or younger, there’s not much hope. It’s very difficult and she’s very brave and keeps us all going with her attitude.” Aimee was born with one chamber in her heart instead of four, pulmonary atresia which means her pulmonary valve did not form properly and the artery intended to carry blood to the lungs did not develop.
The deteriorating condition means the youngster tires easily, is constantly low on energy and suffers breathlessness. Valerie said: “Stephen and I have to ask for help. It’s not in our nature but our priority is our daughter. We are exhausted but we must keep going.”
To join the organ donor register go to www.organdonation.nhs.uk To donate to the Brady family’s fund visit www. gofundme.com/ aimeeswaitfora newheart.
She went into heart failure & is now waiting on a stranger to save her VALERIE BRADY BELFAST YESTERDAY