'You'll be an excellent doctor and unicorn rider'; PM's amazing message to Wearside girl with a new heart

The Prime Minister told the four-year-old: ‘I am sure you will be an excellent doctor and unicorn rider when you grow up.’

‘I have a special heart, I had a heart transplant and it saved my life’

The reply was described by Beatrix’s mum Cheryl Archbold, from Roker in Sunderland, as ‘amazing’.

It came just days after the little girl wrote her own letter to the PM, with the help of her dad Terry, to raise the issue of organ donation - and to ask him who his favourite singer was.

Bea said: “I will be 5 when it is my next birthday. I have a special heart, I had a heart transplant and it saved my life.

“When I grow up I want to be a Doctor and a Unicorn Rider all at the same time. I want to be a Doctor to help people. Helping people and other children like me is nice.

‘I am sure you will make an excellent doctor and unicorn rider’

“I want to give you some stickers as well, bye, Beatrix

PS: who is your favourite singer?’

In a heart warming response, the Prime Minister replied: “Dear Beatrix, Thank you very much for your excellent letter to me about your special heart. I think it is fantastic that you want to be a doctor when you grow up.

“You are right that it is good to help people and you are a kind person to think of others. I am sorry to hear that you had a poorly heart, that must have been difficult for you and your family. I am pleased that you were able to have a heart transplant and are better now. It is very kind of you to give me an Orgamites book and I shall look at it with interest.

‘My favourite band is Orange Juice’

“The organs in our body are very important and it is good for children and adults to learn about them. By the end of their time at secondary school, children should know about the science relating to blood, tissue and organs.

“To answer your question about music, my favourite band is Orange Juice - you may need to ask your dad about them! ‘Thank you very much for writing to me. I am sure you will make an excellent doctor and unicorn rider when you grow up.

“All best wishes,

Keir Starmer #gift#life#discussNHS Organ DonationMighty Orgamites

Bea’s mum Cheryl said: “It was amazing to get such a lovely, personal response from the PM. It is very rewarding to know that Bea has firmly put the topic of organ donation on the radar of Government.

‘She was gutted that she didn’t see the Number 10 cat’

“Bea was over the moon when I read the letter to her, she wants me to check that he knows about organs.”

Bea’s only disappointment was that she ‘didn’t see the Number 10 cat’, said Cheryl.

What a month this has been for Beatrix who had her first day at primary school last week.

It is all a huge change for mum Cheryl and dad Terry’s precious little girl who was less than two years old when she was rushed into hospital with an enlarged heart in 2022.

She had an operation to fit a line into her body so she could receive medication but she had a cardiac arrest and was saved by expert surgeons at the Freeman Hospital who performed open heart surgery.

There was a 14-month wait for a new heart.

A year in hospital waiting for a new heart

The little girl lived in the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle for a year and was attached to tubes which acted as her ventricles.

Weeks later, Beatrix was home and a whole new life began. Now, three years have passed and Beatrix, aged four, has started her first day at school.

To find out more about organ donation, visit: www.organdonation.nhs.uk, call 0300 123 23 23 or use the NHS app.