Playtime for Beatrix as heart transplant girl, two, gets to leave the hospital ward after positive tests

Brave little Wearside hero Beatrix Archbold is making miracle steps forward - just two weeks after having a heart transplant.

There's been proper hugs from mum Cheryl, from Roker, and dad Terry.

It's the first time in more than a year that she has had a cuddle without an artificial heart attached to her.

'I can't tell you how scrumptious it is just to pick her up for a cuddle'

In another positive twist, Beatrix was well enough to enjoy time in the Freeman Hospital play room.

The good news keeps on coming. She has taken a first walk round the apartment where she will stay with mum and dad while she adapts to her new life.

And even better, she has had more tests and they have all had encouraging results.

Cheryl said: "I can't even begin to tell you how blooming lovely and scrumptious it feels just to pick my tot up out her cot for a cuddle.

'I have dreamt of those moments. It's as lush as I remembered'

"No rigmarole of taking the cot end off to free her pipes. No moving her machine and no juggling them both.

"Nothing stopping her from snuggling in close. I've dreamt of these moments. It is as lush as I'd remembered.

Terry said: "To think how only days ago this wasn't our life, how we couldn't even think past that day.

'The word gift doesn't come close to what it means to us'

"They say organ donation is a gift. The word gift doesn't even come close to describing what it means to us."

It has been a complete turnaround from two weeks ago when Beatrix was attached to a Berlin machine, which worked as her artificial ventricles.

She had spent more than a year at the Freeman Hospital.

'It was lovely to see her pottering about'

But life has moved fast since the transplant.

Dad Terry said: "Whilst we transition between ward and home life, The Sick Children's Trust provides a "transplant flat".

"This means we can build up our time away from the ward and Beatrix will start staying with us there.

"Yesterday she visited with me for the first time. It was lovely to see her pottering about."

'All looked well which is a relief'

There has been a day of tests as well.

"She had an X-ray, echo and ECG. All looked well which is a relief," said dad.Beatrix first became ill in May 2021.

The Archbold family had returned from a trip to Disney World in Florida and thought Beatrix caught Covid.

Saved by the experts after a cardiac arrest

She had stopped drinking, had a rash on her neck and the family dialled 111.

After going to A&E, a doctor at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead detected a heart murmur. Tests showed one side of her heart was enlarged and not functioning properly.

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.

Have that talk about organ donation

Terry and Cheryl have regularly spoken to the Sunderland Echo to urge Wearside people to start talking more about the sensitive topic of donating a child’s organs.

It is vital the discussion happens now because it is too upsetting for a parent to consider when they have just lost a child, they say.

For more on organ donation, visit https://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/