Brave youngster who underwent heart transplant speaks to Piers Morgan on Good Morning Britain

Kayleigh Llewellyn appeared on national TV on Tuesday, January 26, where she spoke to presenters Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid about her ordeal.

The 13-year-old from Seaham was diagnosed with a form of heart disease called cardiomyopathy after suddenly becoming unwell and struggling to breathe.

After four weeks in intensive care, Kayleigh underwent a heart transplant in November 2019 at the Freeman Hospital’s Children’s Heart Unit (CHUF) in Newcastle.

Since then Kayleigh has been making incredible progress on her road to recovery and has made it her mission to raise awareness of the importance of organ donation.

Speaking on Good Morning Britain alongside parents Shaun Sidney and Sonia Llewellyn, Kayleigh told Piers Morgan that she didn’t think she would survive.

She said: "I honestly thought I wouldn’t survive through it, seeing all the machines and stuff I was on, I thought I was going to just die.”

Dad Shaun added: “Kayleigh was on a life support machine and to us there was no end in sight.”

Asked about how it felt to learn that a donor had been found, Shaun said: “It was just amazing. It was the best Christmas present we could ask for.

"The relief was just unreal.”

Kayleigh also shared that she has since established contact with the donor family to pay tribute to their 19-year-old daughter for saving her life.

She said: “I just wrote saying how grateful I was to them for making that decision to donate their organs and saving me.”

In response the donor family sent Kayleigh a Pandora ring belonging to the donor.

The family now hope they will eventually be able to meet the donor parents in person.

On the experience of appearing on the show, dad Shaun said: “It was great. It was just amazing to get Kayleigh’s story out to a wider community and raise awareness of the importance of donors.

“Kayleigh loved the experience and she is a big fan of Piers Morgan.

"He thanked her for being a fan of the show and praised her on how strong she has been through her ordeal."

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