Toddler with end-stage heart failure asks Father Christmas for a heart transplant
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A toddler who is in end-stage heart failure has asked Father Christmas for a life-saving heart transplant. 18-month-old Willow Stansfield was diagnosed with end-stage heart failure in August after suffering two cardiac arrests. The tot had caught a common virus before deteriorating in what her mum, Elisha-Mai, 18, has described as a ‘living nightmare’.
Without a transplant, Willow will die, her mum said. The experience has been ‘incredibly unpredictable, worrying, and scary. The stay-at-home mum from Bury, Greater Manchester, said they don’t know how long it will be until Willow can get a heart transplant.
‘The wait time has gone to 18 to 24 months for a transplant but it could be longer or a shorter wait,’ Elisha-Mai said. ‘She’s cheeky, intelligent, amusing, and despite everything going on, she still tries to be the happiest little girl.’. Shortly after Willow’s first birthday, she began having symptoms of parvovirus, which has similar signs to that of the common cold or flu.
After further visits to her GP and A&E, followed by treatment with antibiotics, she was admitted to North Manchester General Hospital, where an X-ray showed she had pneumonia. Willow’s condition worsened, and she was transferred to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool, where it was discovered the tot had heart failure.
Treatment failed to help her condition improve, and she was diagnosed with end-stage heart failure soon after. She was then transferred to the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle, more than 150 miles away from her home. Dad Luke Stansfield makes the journey weekly to be with his child while mum Elisha-Mai moves to the city.
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