First heart transplant girl reunited with medics

1 hour ago

Aida FofanaWest Midlands

News image — Jasmine Page (centre) said the hospital was like "a second home"

Birmingham Children's Hospital Jasmine Page is pictured smiling on a hospital ward, she is standing in between four nurses. She wears a grey jumper and black trousers with black trainers. Three nurses are wearing blue nurses uniform with their hair away from their faces while another nurse wears a black and white floral dress, black and yellow cardigan and glasses. — Jasmine Page (centre) said the hospital was like "a second home"

The first patient to receive a heart transplant at Birmingham Children's Hospital has been reunited with the medical team who saved her life 15 years ago.

Jasmine Page, now 27, from Halesowen, developed Kawasaki disease as a three-year-old, leaving her with serious heart complications that were monitored throughout her childhood.

At the age of 12 she collapsed at school and went into cardiac arrest, ultimately needing a transplant.

"I was extremely lucky that a teacher was standing next to me who knew first aid," she said. "He performed CPR, which saved my life."

After being taken to hospital in a critical condition, she was transferred to Birmingham Children's Hospital, where specialist surgeons from Great Ormond Street Hospital joined local teams to carry out a five-hour transplant operation.

She revisited the hospital to thank staff as part of World Heart Month.

Family Jasmine when she was young. She is wearing a grey and orange striped top and is standing next to her mother, who is sitting in a chair. The pair seem to be on a hospital ward or in a side room - there is a radiator behind them and a cabinet to the left — Jasmine's mother said the return visit brought back emotional memories of the time spent at the hospital when her daughter was young

"It's been such a special experience to return to the hospital where I spent so much of my childhood," she said

"The hospital was like a second home to me."

During the visit she met doctors and nurses from the cardiac ward who cared for her throughout her recovery.

Her mother, Saundra Page, said it brought back emotional memories, and described the hospital as a "home from home" for the family.

Jasmine later faced further health challenges when she developed post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease, which progressed into stage-four non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

She underwent a year of chemotherapy and is now in remission.

Family A close up of Jasmine, who is wearing a grey top and is smiling broadly at the camera. Behind her is a television on a stand and various hospital equipment — Jasmine spent much of her early life in hospital

"It was a really difficult time," she said, adding that without her donor heart she would not have survived.

"Organ donation is a huge lifeline, I wouldn't be here without it."

Now working as a special needs teacher, she said she wanted to give something back and encouraged others to discuss organ donation with their families, adding that the decision could save lives.