A little girl made history as she was flown to hospital on a machine which kept her alive before a heart transplant.
Lola Plimmer was so poorly that she had to be transported using the Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) device.
It was the first time the Children’s Air Ambulance had used it for such a transfer with the specialist team on board.
They took Lola from Birmingham, where she was being treated, to Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital.
Lola, then 18 months old, was described as being hours from death.
She caught a cold and a virus began attacking her heart.
She went into heart failure and the tot, from Stone, near Stoke-on-Trent, relied on the ECMO machine to keep her alive.
She was the first to use the machine on board the specialist Children’s Air Ambulance.
And the little miracle then received a new heart from Europe thanks to a new ‘Heartbox’, a device which is set to revolutionise transplants in the UK.
The Freeman, where Mirror campaigner Max Johnson received his new heart, is leading a trial of the new kit, one of 15 centres across Europe.
Surgeons believe it could mean donor hearts are viable for transplant for 12-24 hours instead of the current 3-4 hours.
The new box uses oxygenated blood to keep them stable and crucially, they are kept on ice and no longer need to be beating.
That extends the time they are ready for transplant, paving the way for donor organs to be flown from hundreds of miles away.
Lola, now 23 months old, became best friends with Bea Adamson-Archbold as she waited for her op at the Freeman.
The Mirror told how Terry and Cheryl Archbold suffered the agony of then 16-month-old Beatrix’s cardiac arrest after she was rushed to hospital.
In 2018 they lost their own daughter Isabelle when she was stillborn and agreed to donate her organs for research.
Beatrix has also received a new heart.
Lola’s mum Ella Watt said: “In terrible circumstances, we were actually very lucky.
“Lola made history as she was the first to use the ECMO machine and travel by air ambulance on the helicopter.
“We were due to go to Great Ormond Street from Birmingham but ended up having to go to Newcastle Freeman Hospital.
“I was worried about traffic by road, which would have taken more than four hours. The air ambulance took just 1 hr 26 mins.”
Lola waited for nine weeks for her transplant after being added to the urgent list.
“It was a perfect match,” added Ella. “It did not match Bea and other children on the list, but it was not so risky for Lola.
“The donor was from abroad, somewhere in Europe. They had to fly out surgeons to assess the organs.
“Being able to give that gift to somebody is absolutely magical. What do you say to a donor family?
“We think about them every single day and we cherish and love these people, part of them is in our daughter.
“It is mind boggling really and a very special gift.
“If people knew what it means, what it really means, I like to think that more people would think about organ donation.”
Ella paid tribute to the Sick Children’s Trust, the charity which provided a flat for her and partner Rob, 33, to share at the Freeman so they could be with their daughter as she awaited transplant.
She is now back home and recovering well and the couple urged people to let their families know if they wish to donate their organs.
The Children’s Air Ambulance (TCAA) is the only intensive care helicopter in the country dedicated to transferring critically ill babies and children to specialist paediatric and neonatal treatment centres.
The charity works closely with 11 NHS Clinical Partner Teams across the country and offers ECMO (Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation) functionality onboard its new AgustaWestland 169.
ECMO is a system similar to a heart and lung bypass machine. It provides oxygen to the body when a child’s heart and/or lungs are not working effectively, and normal methods of intensive care are failing.
sickchildrenstrust.org/www.organdonation.nhs.uk.