Meet Eloise!

Eloise was born at 32 weeks but she had no problems from her prematurity as she was well developed and a good weight.She thrived and was a happy sweet little girl.
April 2002 at 20 mths old she had hand , foot and mouth virus but was not unwell with it. On the 23rd May 2002 she became unwell, breathless,blue tinge around her mouth, vomiting, constipation so I took her to hospital expecting her to have a chest infection. Her initial observations were normal so she was sent for a chest x-ray. That x-ray told the truth my babies heart was severely enlarged she had cardiomyopathy and an ECHO showed only 30% of her heart was functioning. She was a very sick little girl who went straight to paediatric intensive care and was put an a ventilator.Eloise's life hung in the balance for 3 weeks , she was very unstable and needed a heart transplant urgently. 5 days after going on the transplant list Eloise received her gift of life a new heart.
The last few years have been tough at times, but Eloise has had a healthy good quality of life and has a lot of fun. She doesn't like needles....who does but is a brave little girl. I am so proud of Eloise , she's 9 years old now 8 years post transplant. Only 50% of children survive 10 years but my little girl will defy all the odds and statistics.