Appeal to help save girl hits £85k in two days

An appeal set up by the parents of a critically ill 14-month-old girl to buy a device which could help save her life has raised over £85,000 in just 48 hours.

Penelope Greathead, from Ravenscar, suffers from a condition known as dilated cardiomyopathy and has been on life support at Leeds Children's Hospital since suffering heart failure two weeks ago.

Her parents, Jordan Greathead and Hollie Suff, have been told a device known as a "Berlin Heart" could help her, and they set up their £120,000 fundraiser after discovering there was a shortage of NHS beds capable of supporting that treatment.

Mrs Suff said: "We just want to be able to talk to her and to hold her and pick her up."

Mrs Suff said Penelope had been diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy, a condition which affects the heart's ability to pump blood around the body, when she was only a few weeks old, with it initially managed through medication.

However, during a routine stay in hospital in Leeds about a fortnight ago her condition suddenly deteriorated and she went into cardiac arrest.

Since then, Penelope has been reliant on what is known as an ECMO machine to replace the function of the heart and lungs, but that it is only supposed to be used on a temporary basis.

Mrs Suff said they had been told the machine would be good for "two weeks max", but doctors did not think Penelope's heart was strong enough to support herself without it.

Mr Greathead said: "She's sort of stuck in no-man's-land, because that machine has got her to where she is now and is keeping her alive, but it's a bridge to something else like having a mechanical heart fitted or a transplant.

"So what we need right now is a machine called a Berlin Heart, but there's no capacity right now, no bed space available in the UK."

A Berlin Heart is a mechanical pump that helps children with heart failure by taking over the work of one or both sides of their heart.

Mrs Suff said: "We've been told she's eligible to have a heart, but there's only two centres in the UK that do it: Great Ormond Street and the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle.

"They have a Berlin Heart, they could fit her with that, but the additional care and the space to get her into one of these centres is not there."

Since learning of the lack of capacity, Mr Greathead and Mrs Suff launched their online appeal to try to raise £120,000 for a Berlin Heart.

The fundraiser has already received donations of just over £85,000 since it was set up on Thursday.

Mrs Suff said having the procedure carried out privately was an option, but they still hoped to be able to find a space at either Great Ormond Street or the Freeman Hospital.

"She's such a lovely girl, we just want her back," Mrs Suff said.

The couple, who are expecting their second child in April, added: "We just want her to be a big sister."

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