A Scottish toddler waiting desperately for a heart transplant at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle “performs miracles every day”.
Little Aalayah Stewart, 3, is at the famed heart unit attached to a Berlin Heart device and waiting for a transplant. She has been there 10 months thus far, hundreds of miles from home in hospital with a “broken heart” desperately needs a transplant before she can return home at Newarthill, which is south-west of Glasgow.
The brave youngster first fell ill in December 2022, the Daily Record reported, after she developed a common virus called Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). As a result, doctors then found Aalayah had developed cardiomyopathy – a disorder that affects the heart muscles.
Though little Aalayah appeared to bounce back, last March she went into cardiac arrest in what was a devastating setback. She was rushed to the Freeman from Glasgow by police escort, and fitted to the Berlin Heart “ventricular assist device” which supports her.
The staff there are her “lifeline” her dad said – while the family are fighting to raise money to provide an “innowalker” device on the unit, as the one Aalayah has been using to learn how to walk again has been on loan.
Aalayah Stewart, 3, is in hospital waiting for a heart transplant.
(Image: Handout)
Dad Thomas said “Aalayah’s heart is broken and she needs a new one. She won’t be able to come home until she does. We feel like our hearts are broken too. Our girl is incredible, she performs miracles every day. What she has been through is inspiring to us all.
“Her family is missing her so much. We’ve celebrated birthdays down here with all the family, we’ve tried to make things as normal as possible for Aalayah. But this is not the life we want for her. We want her home with her family and living the life every child deserves.”
Thomas, 42, has 12 children including Aalayah with wife Kelly, 40. He said the past 10 months have been the hardest of their lives. The pair swap places to be by their poorly daughter’s side in Newcastle each week.
Thomas added: “That week in March 2024 was just the most traumatic time any parent could go through. Seeing Aalayah suffer a cardiac arrest was our worst nightmare.
“I would never want any parent to be in that situation. It is an unimaginable pain seeing your child go through that. It destroys you. “It was just sheer terror, we thought we had lost her. All the doctors came rushing in there was an alarm going off.
“Within days we were given a police escort to take Aalayah down to Freeman Hospital. We were only down there for a few days when they told us Aalayah had also suffered brain damage.
“We were beyond devastated. She lost the ability to walk and talk and she had to relearn everything. But thankfully she’s still here and still proving absolutely everyone wrong. We couldn’t be more proud of her. She is taking huge strides. “The first time she spoke again was indescribable and moments like that give us so much hope.”
As the family patiently wait for a donor heart, Thomas has launched an online appeal to raise funds for a costly physio machine that is helping her take her first steps. The walker costs £38,000 and they are determined to raise the cash for the machine to be a permanent fixture in the specialist unit at the Freeman.
Thomas said he hopes the machine will benefit other children like his daughter in the future as a thanks to the incredible team there. He paid tribute: “I’m just in awe of them. The work they do is exceptional – they really are Aalayah’s lifeline. Our dream is to see her walk again. This incredible device gives her the best possible chance to do that. She absolutely thrives when she is on it.”
You can donate to the fundraiser here.
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