Little girl with life-threatening heart condition is asking Santa for a new heart his year
A five-year-old girl with a life-threatening condition is asking Santa for a new heart this Christmas.
Georgia Kirchin, from Peterborough, has a condition called aortic stenosis, which means the blood-flow is restricted, and she needs a new heart to save her life.
The school girl is on the NHS donor waiting and is living day-by-day as she waits for a child's heart to replace her own.
Her family are trying to make the most of Christmas as they fear it could be Georgia's last, given that they've already spent almost two years waiting for a suitable organ to become available.
"We don’t know how many more Christmases we’re going to get," Mum Jodie Kirchin, 32, explains.
"It’s hard because you think, 'Is this the last time we’re going to do this? Will we be looking back on this as a memory soon?'"
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Just like las year, the family's Christmas wish is for Georgia to get a new heart so they can begin making plans for the future.
“Our Christmas wish is for Georgia to get her new heart," Kirchin continues. "Last year we thought maybe by this Christmas, now we think maybe by next Christmas.
"We try and take each day and carry on as normally as possible, we keep positive and really value everything."
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When she was just five days old, Georgia was rushed to hospital with breathing difficulties and diagnosed with a heart valve defect, a hole in her heart, and under-size left pumping chamber.
Before she was five months old, Georgia had an operation to replace her heart valve with a donated one.
Unfortunately, however, due to drugs leaking into her skin during surgery, Georgia had to have half of her right foot amputated.
And in 2019 she developed cardiomyopathy - a disease of the heart muscle - prompting doctors to add her to the heart donor waiting list in October last year, which she has remained on ever since.
The mum-of-two, who lives with husband Adam, 31, adds: “I’m grateful to have her [Georgia] at home with us and for every Christmas.
"It puts it all into perspective, it’s not about presents, food or decorations, but being together."
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Mrs Kirchin said her little girl feels tired more easily this year and is also eating less.
Winter, and the pandemic, has also left the family constantly worrying about Georgia picking up an illness and having to go into hospital.
“It’s another year of her waiting and she’s not getting any better, it’s really hard. It’s scary, at the moment Georgia is stable but if she deteriorates quickly, they can’t just order a heart," her mum continues.
“We can’t really plan much but we’re trying to make things as special as we can. We take things day by day.
“We don’t know how much time we have. We want to make the most of every day right now and not being able to see family has been hard, but we have to stay safe."
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Georgia started school in September but because her condition makes her tired easily, she struggles to play with other children.
“She gets frustrated and upset," her mum explains. "She asks when can she get her new heart and how will she get it? Why cant she run after her friends at school? Why does she have to keep going to the doctors and her friends don’t?"
But the family - including big sister Millie, 10, who has also joined in asking Father Christmas for a heart for Georgia - are determined to stay positive.
“We’re always thinking of and wishing for Georgia to get her new heart," her mother adds.
Additional reporting SWNS.
