Arielle ‘like a free bird’ after Royal Children’s Hospital’s heart transplant

NEWBORN Arielle was dying. But a radical move by the Royal Children’s Hospital rescued her failing heart in a way never ­before attempted in Australia, and the now-four-year-old is now the face of the hospital’s annual Good Friday Appeal fundraiser.

Heart transplant recipient Arielle, 4, is the Face of the Good Friday Appeal. Picture: Jason Edwards

ARIELLE is the living result of a brave and radical move by the Royal Children’s Hospital to rescue the failing heart of a newborn — barely the size of a walnut — in a way never ­before attempted in Australia.

But the meticulous planning and ­expertise of the ­cardiology and cardiac surgery teams in supporting eight-day-old Arielle with artificial circulation has paved the way for other babies to receive ventricular assist ­devices.

HOUSE DONATION TO AID SICK KIDS

TRANSPLANT COUPLE HAVE PLENTY OF HEART

The VADs, which take over the pumping function of the heart, have kept them alive and given them the time to grow big and strong enough for a heart transplant.

Now four years old, Arielle is the face of the Good Friday Appeal, the biggest annual fundraiser for the Royal ­Children’s Hospital.

Everyday Victorians who put their hands into their pockets during the appeal are part of the large team that makes success stories like Arielle’s possible.

Arielle received a ventricular assist device when she was just eight days old. Picture: Jason Edwards

It funds education, equipment and research to support the 17,000 surgeries performed each year, the 48,000 children admitted to wards, the 322,000 appointments with specialists and 86,000 children who seek emergency help.

Before Arielle was born with dilated cardiomyopathy, VADs were used only in children aged over 12 months and 10kg as a bridge to transplant.

Given the scarcity of deceased infant heart donors and complications risks, RCH cardiologist Dr Robert Weintraub said the team had significant reservations about using the devices in patients younger than that.

“In the past this would have been considered to be too difficult a problem,” Dr Weintraub said.

“It was unclear to us whether we could get a baby to develop normally, and grow to the size that was required for a transplant.

“A VAD is used not just to keep someone alive. It needs to keep them alive in good enough shape that when a donor becomes available they can be transplanted.”

OLD DRUG MAY BE KEY TO TRANSPLANT TREATMENT

Jennifer Keyte and Arielle at the appeal launch. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Arielle, 4, is one of the youngest to receive a heart transplant. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

But newborn Arielle was dying. The left pumping chamber of her heart was enlarged and not pumping as it should.

After finetuning the rate and volume of blood the VAD would deliver, Arielle become the youngest in Australia to be placed on such a device.

At eight days of age, the Melbourne girl is still the youngest child in Australia to be fitted with an artificial heart.

She then received her lifesaving gift of a new heart when she was five months old, and is one of the youngest to have a heart transplant.

Now, as she enjoys her ­second year of kinder, mum Genevieve said she would be forever grateful to the RCH.

“Everything she wants to do in the world, I want her to do it, like a free bird,” she said.

“She inspires me. We can’t thank the hospital enough.”

RCH chief John Stanway said money raised through the appeal — now in its 87th year — gave the hospital access to equipment and technology that it might not otherwise be able to, as well as attracting and retaining the “best and brightest” staff.

“This support has helped change the lives, and in many cases save the lives, of so many for so long,” he said.

Key events include the Kick for the Kids AFL match between North Melbourne and St Kilda, and the Kids Day Out at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, both on Good Friday, as well as the Herald Sun/CityLink Run for the Kids on March 18.

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