Parents' delight after girl's heart op a success

Christmas has "come early" for the parents of a toddler who suffered heart failure, after a successful operation to treat her condition.

Penelope Greathead, from Ravenscar, North Yorkshire, suffers from dilated cardiomyopathy and was moved to Great Ormond Street Hospital earlier this week.

The 14-month-old girl had previously been on life support at Leeds Children's Hospital before a bed was found for her in London.

Her parents said a procedure to fit Penelope with a mechanical pump "went well".

The device, known as a Berlin Heart, will help Penelope's real heart function and pump blood round her body.

Although diagnosed with her condition when she was only a few weeks old, Penelope had been managing on medication until she had a sudden cardiac arrest during a routine stay in hospital earlier this month.

Writing on a Facebook page where they provide updates about Penelope's condition, her family wrote: "Penelope had her Berlin Heart operation yesterday and everything went well."

Her parents, Jordan Greathead and Hollie Suff, said that while it was "early days" in their daughter's recovery, she no longer needed the use of a life support machine.

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Greathead said this was a "great relief" as Penelope had been dependent on life support for three weeks.

He said: "The last three weeks have just been a rollercoaster. That's the only way I can explain it."

The couple have received a flood of donations and messages of support after posting about their daughter's plight on social media.

"Everything has just been so unexpected, from her being poorly after what was supposed to be a routine medical appointment, to us putting that post out on Facebook just to try to generate some awareness of what was going on," Mr Greathead said.

"We had so many messages from people all over the world and we're immensely touched."

Penelope will now stay in Great Ormond Street with her parents until she can have a heart transplant, though they have been told this could take up to two years due to the scarcity of organ donations.

The family said raising awareness about the importance and impact of organ donation was now "key to her future".

Mr Greathead said he and Ms Suff were likely to spend Christmas Day with a coffee by Penelope's bedside.

He added: "We're happy because after everything that's happened we could have been in a very different position.

"But she's in the best place in Europe she could possibly be now."

Penelope's parents raised nearly £130,000 in just a few days earlier this month, after being told their daughter needed the procedure and there was a shortage of NHS beds capable of supporting the treatment.

However, the couple were then told that Great Ormond Street could accommodate Penelope, meaning the cash was no longer needed.

As a result, her parents, who thanked kind-hearted strangers "from the bottom of our hearts", have said they will donate the money to other families facing a similar situation.

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