Hospital sees two baby transplants in one day

Published on Friday 13 March 2009 20:52

SURGEONS performed heart transplants on two infants in one day, in what is thought to be a first for Britain.

Ten-month-old Ellen Walsh and Patrick Skinner, aged two and a half, had surgery within minutes of one another at the same hospital.

And thanks to the skill of staff at the Freeman Hospital, Newcastle, the youngsters – who live just streets apart in Tyneside – are on the way to recovery.

Just weeks ago both Ellen and Patrick's lives hung in the balance as both were placed on the heart transplant register.

Ten-month-old Ellen was born with a series of complications meaning her arteries were the wrong way round and she had two holes in her heart.

Two-and-a-half-year-old Patrick, who was diagnosed with leukaemia in July, suffered heart failure after his body reacted badly to chemotherapy drugs.

The two-and-a-half year old was placed on a double "Berlin Heart" machine, which keeps the blood circulating, on Boxing Day, which kept him alive until a donor heart could be found.

Lynn Robson, the donor transplant co-ordinator at the Freeman Hospital, said: "There is a possibility that this was a British first.

"Two donors became available so we went ahead."