'Miracle' heart girl returns home

A two-year-old has returned home after a heart transplant operation made possible by an amazing journey.

Laura Whitworth received a heart at Great Ormond Street Hospital but the ambulance carrying the organ suffered two punctures on the journey to hospital.

The ambulance driver flagged down a passing motorist, who took him and the organ to apolice station where officers took over and sped the heart on the rest of its journey.

Laura's father Andy said: "She's come on leaps and bounds. She really is a miracle.

"She's itching to get going, it's like putting a battery in."

Laura was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy a year ago, leaving her with an enlarged heart.

Her condition became so bad she was airlifted by the RAF from Leeds to London where she could be stabilised by a state-of-the-art 'Berlin heart' until a donor heart became available last month.

The family have been told Laura's four-year-old sister Lucie does not share the condition.

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