Max sends a message of hope for tot Beatrix
Heart hospital ‘best in world’
THE family of Mirror campaigner Max Johnson have sent a message of hope to the parents of a tot awaiting a heart transplant.
Max’s dad Paul Johnson paid tribute to Terry and Cheryl Archbold, whose daughter Beatrix is desperately ill.
Yesterday we told how the Archbolds, who gave the heart of their stillborn child for research, now desperately need a donor organ for 16-month-old Beatrix.
Paul, 49, said: “They are a remarkable family who helped others and are now desperate for an organ to save their little girl.
We hope and pray they receive the gift of life.”
Beatrix is in Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital where Max, 14, received a new heart in 2017.
He was saved by the sacrifice of the family of Keira Ball, who died aged nine after a car accident near her home in Devon.
The two families joined the Mirror’s successful campaign to change the organ donor law in England.
Paul, of Winsford, Cheshire, said: “Beatrix could not be in a better place for a transplant. The Freeman is the best in the country, if not in the world.” Terry, 44, of Burnopfield, Co Durham, said the messages of support had made a huge difference. He and wife Cheryl, 40, both local authority workers, thanked the Johnsons for their backing.
Terry added: “It is really reassuring to hear from families who have walked the same path. It gives us hope.”
Beatrix’s sister Isabel was stillborn in 2018 with hypoplastic left heart syndrome.
Beatrix has an enlarged heart, an entirely different condition.
Our four-year donor campaign resulted in Max and Keira’s Law, named in their honour,
It means everyone is presumed to be a donor when they die unless they opt out. Since the change, 1,540 organ donations have taken place.
Follow Beatrix’s Heart Journey at www.facebook.com/BeatrixHeart22/ or visit www.organdonation.nhs.uk