A young boy, 4, who had to wait over 300 days for his heart transplant is now back at home and was able to dance for the first time in celebration.
Doctors for the brave Finlay Pollock diagnosed him with an enlarged heart when he was just 18 months old.
His parents, Thomas and Sarah, have been caring for him at home for the last two years while they waited for the call.
Finlay was then placed on the urgent transplant list after his condition deteriorated last October and he was taken into hospital in Belfast after suffering a cardiac arrest.
He then spent weeks in Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital.
The life-saving transplant was carried out earlier this year after an 11-month wait.
“It was 45 weeks in hospital,” said full-time mum Sarah, 40.
“The donor did not just save Finlay’s life, they saved all our lives. We have noticed a big change in him. He seems to have more energy and is not breathless.
“He asked me to put music on because he wanted to dance – he had never done that before.”
Finlay, of Dromore, Co Down, Northern Ireland, had restrictive and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
Mechanic Thomas, 47, and Sarah also cared for other son Alfie, eight.
In England adults are now understood to be organ donors when they die, unless they state otherwise thanks to the Mirror’s Change the Law for Life crusade.
Northern Ireland should be introducing similar laws next year.
Sarah thanked the Sick Children’s Trust, the charity which provided accommodation at the hospital to allow them to see their son.
She added: “Finlay’s heart is doing well but he’s had complications. He’s amazing and remains strong.”
