‘For such a long time we never thought she would come home’

Miracle youngster Beatrix Archbold will tackle the mini Great North Run - just four years after she was critically ill in hospital and waiting for a new heart.

Heart transplant girl Beatrix Archbold who will run the Mini GNR dressed in her K-Pop Demon Hunter outfit. | ugc

placeholder image — Heart transplant girl Beatrix Archbold who will run the Mini GNR dressed in her K-Pop Demon Hunter outfit. | ugc

The Wearside 5-year-old will run 1.2 kilometres on Saturday, September 12 along the Newcastle-Gateshead Quayside dressed as a K-Pop Demon Hunter, just like her dad Terry.

Heart transplant girl Beatrix pictured with her mum Cheryl and dad Terry Archbold. | ugc

Terry Archbold reflected on how far his daughter had come and said: “Seeing her run around, high fiving the crowd, raising funds for charity is a huge testament to organ donation and her donor. They will be in our thoughts with every step Bea takes.”

Beatrix became ill in 2022.

Mum Cheryl, from Roker, said her then 15-month-old daughter Beatrix suddenly fell critically ill with heart failure. She was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy, suffered a cardiac arrest and was saved by CPR.

Beatrix Archbold who spent 14 months on a hospital ward before she received a new heart. | ugc

She remained in hospital and was attached to tubes which acted as her ventricles, during which time Cheryl lived at the Freeman in Newcastle.

Beatrix needed a heart transplant after tests showed one side of her heart was enlarged and not functioning properly.

Beatrix Archbold who is spreading awareness of organ donation. | ugc

Eventually, after a 14-month wait, a new heart was found in 2023 and now Beatrix is a huge advocate of organ donation.

Mum Cheryl added: “This year she'll be handing out cards to the crowd as she runs round the quayside course.”

These are the cards that Beatrix will hand out to spectators as she does the Mini Great North Run. | ugc

Dad Terry added: “For such a long time we never thought she would come home, participating in the GNR was never even a thought.”

He said watching his daughter run the course with him would be ‘quite emotional’ and Terry has told of his own sacrifice for the big day when he runs alongside Beatrix. Terry told us: “She's got us both going as K-Pop Demon Hunters.”

Beatrix’s happy story comes against a background of worrying organ donation statistics.

More than 60 people died in the North East in 2025 while they waited for an organ transplant.

The numbers of adults giving consent for organ donation is going down. It fell from 69% in 2020/21 to 57% in 2025/26.

Beatrix’s mum Cheryl previously told us: “Beatrix and so many other children and adults would not be here today without their amazing, selfless donor families saying 'yes'. They were gifted hope, life and a future.”

Now, in a bid to reverse the trend of fewer adults giving consent for donation, people in the North East & Yorkshire are being urged to be ‘One in a Million’ by registering their decision to be an organ donor.

To confirm your support for organ donation on the NHS Organ Donor Register, visit: www.organdonation.nhs.uk, call 0300 123 23 23 or use the NHS app. And please tell your family about your decision.