A Harry Potter fan is set for a truly magical Christmas after finally being gifted a new heart.
Dom Davies was born with a congenital defect in his right ventricle and needed surgery at four days old, then again aged three and seven.
At this time last year, the 21-year-old was so poorly he was struggling to breathe and could not eat or finish a sentence without gasping for air.
But now, he is paying tribute to the donor who has made his dream of having a new heart come true – and looking forward to “properly celebrating Christmas with a bellyful of turkey”.
Dom said: "I didn’t think I would live to see another Christmas.
"I was going by the fact I’d had 20 years and that would be it.
"Last Christmas, I could not dream of getting a new heart. But I hoped against hope."
He also told of how Harry Potter’s adventures had helped him come to terms with the concept of death during his agonising wait for a donor.
Dom was introduced to author JK Rowling’s boy wizard by his dad, who read him bedtime stories.
He said: "My love of Harry Potter helped me come to terms with death, so I didn’t see it as a bad, scary thing, just something I had to accept. But I still didn’t want to think about it.
And he added of his transplant: “[I thought] either it will go fine and I will bewell or it won’t and I won’t know anything about it.”
Dom went on the list for a new heart in October 2017 and finally got his op at Newcastle Freeman Hospital earlier this year.
He said: “The first thing I said to Mum was, ‘I can breathe’.”
Older brother Benie, 23, an aspiring musician, wrote a song to keep Dom’s spirits up and told of his moments with him before the operation – during which his brother said farewell to his loved ones, in case he did not survive.
Benie said: “I gave him a salute, I did not want him to think it was a final goodbye.”
Dom, from Suffolk, is now fronting the British Heart Foundation’s Christmas campaign.
It will support the Mirror-backed Max and Keira’s Law on organ donation – the opt-out system that comes into force in spring 2020.
Dom backed our four-year Change the Law for Life campaign and appeared on TV as the new legislation passed through Parliament, explaining that a donor would save his life.
He even met Max at the Freeman, saying: “I saw Max at one point after my surgery, which was strange since I’d seen him in the news while I was waiting.
“I knew the Mirror campaign was going to benefit everyone on the list, including me, as I expected to be waiting for a long time.”
Dom now hopes to get a place at Newcastle University to study history and archaeology.
- The BHF is pioneering techniques to repair damaged hearts in the hope that, one day, patients will not need transplants. Back its Christmas Wishes campaign at bhf.org.uk/Christmas
