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Rain; windy lateNews
Girl, 6, in flight for heart swap
22/12/2003
A DRAMATIC European air operation was launched on Friday to bring a six-year-old girl from Hyde a new heart for Christmas.
The family of the youngster - who had been on a waiting list - learnt just after midnight that a suitable heart had been located in Germany.
It triggered a series of co-ordinated operations which relied on split-second timing.
The girl and her mother were picked up from their home by ambulance about 4am and taken to Manchester Airport.
An RAF helicopter was scrambled from North Wales to take them from there to the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The Sea King helicopter from RAF Valley flew through torrential rain and sleet and snow showers to arrive just before 8am.
At the same time, the heart was being flown from Frankfurt by Lear jet to ensure it would be in perfect condition for the operation.
The girl, whose family have asked for her not to be named at this stage, was on the operating table being prepared for the transplant by about 9am while the heart was still in the air.
The girl's aunt said they were waiting on tenterhooks for news.
"We are just hoping and praying that everything goes well," she said.
A spokeswoman for Greater Manchester Ambulance Service said they had taken the step of using an RAF helicopter because the weather was so poor.
"Normally we would have relied on a road ambulance," she said. "Obviously, in a heart transplant situation, time is critical."
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