'I took in every detail, her little hand, freckles': Roker mum relives her daughter's heart transplant day

Cheryl Archbold gave an emotional interview for the Wearside Echoes podcast.

‘I could feel my legs giving way’

She remembered the day in 2023 that she and husband Terry got the news they had waited 14 months for: The day their little girl Beatrix, then aged two, had been found a new heart.

She remembered thinking that ‘this was real’ and she could feel her legs giving way beneath her.

‘I had always worried about what I would be like on that day. That could have been the last day that we had with her and we were very acutely aware of that,” said Cheryl, from Roker.

‘I just remember looking at her little hand and making sure I remembered that freckle on her face’

‘I just remember looking at her little hand and making sure I remembered that freckle on her face, and just taking her all in.”

Cheryl remembered looking round the curtained off area she and Terry were waiting in, to see a nurse giving her the nod that the transplant was going to happen.

She went on to describe the traumatic day which lay ahead and how it ended.

All that is described by Cheryl in remarkable detail in the final episode of our podcast series.

Seven earlier episodes to enjoy

She also talks of her childhood growing up in Sunderland.

It will be available to hear on all major podcast platforms from next Tuesday.

In the meantime, you can hear the previous seven episodes by visiting here.

They include best-selling author Glenda Young and two award-winning business bosses Fiona Simpson and Tara Mackings.

They also include Mackem Folk Singer Dave Murray and Bill Barron (the man whose grandad shared a stage with Stan Laurel).

Re-living Sunderland’s past

There’s Fans Museum founder Michael Ganley who talks about a childhood which always saw him with a football under his arm.

We also spoke to Alun Lee Davies - a Whitburn man who is a former jockey, butcher, and award-winning chef who was once in charge of catering for the Royal family in Saudi Arabia.

Wearside Echoes is sponsored by Tony Clarke Funeral Directors and to hear the last episode in the series, visit here.