Jon and Bridget Slater say they know how the other family must feel losing a child, since the anguish of seeing their little girl close to death.

I think `thank you' is inadequate

Sally's father Jon Slater

Sally is in intensive care following an emergency seven-hour heart transplant after she had been given only hours to live.

Her condition is said to be "poorly" although she improved slightly on Sunday night.

Sally had been perfectly healthy until a virus attacked her heart, causing cardiomyopathya - a condition which weakens the heart's muscles.

Mr and Mrs Slater, both 36, are at her hospital bedside constantly, taking turns to stay in the isolation cubicle with her.

Mr Slater said the worst thing about the crisis was knowing that someone had to die for a heart to become available.

Organs appeal

"We have seen Sally as near to death as you can possibly be and she's still near to death," he said.

"We know quite a lot about how they must be feeling and about losing someone you love. I think `thank you' is inadequate," he told GMTV.

Mrs Slater with her son Joe, five

And the couple urged other people to consider donating relatives' organs.

"There's no point having people who can perform miracles in surgery if they've nothing to put in - whether it's hearts, kidneys or livers - and I would urge everybody to give it serious, serious consideration so that more people have hope."

Mr and Mrs Slater made an emotional television appeal on Friday for a donor and the operation was carried out at the Freeman Hospital, in Newcastle upon Tyne, in the early hours of Sunday.

Community support

Villagers near the family's home in the Yorkshire Dales are also praying for her recovery.

They have been closely following her progress and trying to support Sally's worried parents.

Prayers have been said at the local church

About 100 people attended a Mothering Sunday service at the parish church and joined in prayers.

When Sally first fell ill, the parish vicar of Kirby Malham turned on a light in the belfry. The Reverend Mark I'Anson says the light will stay on until she returns home well again.

Rev I'Anson, of St Michael the Archangel Church, told BBC News Online: "Lots of children fall ill, but this was life-threatening.

"Sally's parents know that we are all praying for them - that's all we can do. It's the medical profession which takes the brunt, but if our prayers can help, so much the better."

The close-knit community of Malham is home to only 800 people, and the Slaters are well known in the village.

Jane Cross, from local pub, the Buck Inn, said: "The village has been in a state of shock for the last few days. We were overjoyed when the call came through that the operation had gone ahead."

Mr Slater said recovery could take weeks, months or years, but with each day, her chances increase.

'Enormously brave'

He praised hospital staff as "the most outstanding bunch of people ever".

Sally had a five-hour operation on Friday before the transplant itself.

Mrs Slater said: "She's in the best hands and we have just got to keep hoping.

"We will never know whether this is a response to the press, but whether it is or not, the people have been enormously brave.

"It is a hugely courageous thing to become a donor."