William Jones, born in May, is battling a rare heart condition, and his only hope for survival is a heart transplant. His mother, Laura Osborne, highlights the critical need: “Hearts of William’s size are very rare.”
William, who was diagnosed with a severe heart condition just weeks after birth, has a heart muscle that is thin and stretched. This makes it difficult for his heart to pump blood effectively throughout his body.
At just 11 weeks old, William is currently the youngest child on the urgent heart transplant list in the UK. To save his life, a suitable donor organ must come from a baby of similar size and weight.
Laura and Stuart Jones, William’s parents from Hemel Hempstead, are now pleading with the public to consider organ donation. Laura, 35, shares, “I’ve been an organ donor for years, but I never thought about children being donors until now. We are relying on a family agreeing to donate—William has no future without this transplant.”
Laura expresses her fears, “We are terrified. He could deteriorate at any moment. I don’t know if my baby will survive. But he’s here, and you can see the fight in him.”
William is currently on life support at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. Although Laura’s pregnancy had been normal, William was born via emergency caesarean section and soon struggled with feeding and lethargy. He was later diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy.
Angie Scales, lead nurse for paediatric organ donation at NHS Blood and Transplant, comments, “For William and many other children in need of life-saving transplants, the only hope is that another family will agree to organ donation during their time of immense grief. We urge everyone to discuss and consider organ donation; your decision could save lives.”
In the UK, over 7,000 people are waiting for an organ transplant, including 250 children. Among them, nearly 300 patients, including 38 children, need a heart transplant.
