The parents of a two-year-old girl who has spent over a year in hospital awaiting a heart transplant have made an urgent plea for more children to become organ donors. Amelia Bolter was 17 months old when her mother took her to the GP for a suspected ear infection, only to be told the toddler was 'waiting at God's door' and needed to be placed on a transplant list.
Amelia was diagnosed with supraventricular tachycardia, a condition causing episodes of abnormally fast heart rates. She has spent the past ten months at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, hooked up to a machine keeping her alive. Her mother, Jodie Woolford, 31, and partner Rich Bolter, 33, from Chippenham, Wiltshire, have both signed up as organ donors and are urging others to do the same.
Jodie said: 'The difficulty with Amelia's condition is that finding child donors is incredibly hard. Parents rarely talk about organ donation until an accident has already happened. By then it is usually too late, and the organs are useless. So, we want to urge parents to make a decision now, so that their children, if something happens, can live on.'
The plea comes as it emerged that all people applying for passports will be asked to become organ donors. The move aims to drive up donation consent rates after a fall from 66% to 62% last year. Home Office Minister Lord Murray said: 'It's vital we use every opportunity to remind people to confirm support for donation. Our passport renewal service gives us a chance to reach 3.5 million every year, providing a convenient way to sign up.'
Currently, 7,000 people are waiting for a transplant in the UK, the highest number in almost a decade. Last year, 439 people died before receiving an organ, and 732 were removed from waiting lists as they became too ill for surgery. Despite a change in law to 'deemed consent' in England, bereaved families still have the final say, and last year 1,130 families refused donation.
