Our Little Miracle
Published: December 6, 2005
LITTLE Lucy Franklin is getting ready to celebrate her sixth birthday – a day her family feared they would never see.
The schoolgirl slipped into a coma and underwent emergency surgery after suffering acute liver failure in December last year.
Lucy was rushed to Birmingham Children’s Hospital where surgeons performed the life-saving transplant after a donor was found.
The St Teresa’s Primary School pupil spent two months in hospital recovering after the operation.
And today, Lucy’s family, of Valeway Avenue, Cleveleys, vowed to make up for lost time with a special birthday party.
Mum Heather, 42, said: “I am just so thankful to have her here. I almost cry knowing how close we came to losing Lucy.
“Last year was the worst Christmas ever and we are so looking forward to this one because Lucy doesn’t even remember last year.”
Lucy, who will celebrate her sixth birthday on Wednesday, was taken to Blackpool Victoria Hospital on December 15 last year but was sent home.
She was re-admitted on Christmas Eve when she was diagnosed with acute liver failure and sent to Birmingham Children’s Hospital for the life-saving transplant when her condition deteriorated over Christmas.
She underwent the operation on December 30 – her mum’s birthday.
Heather said: “Everything was fine for Lucy’s birthday, but then on December 15 I noticed the whites of her eyes were slightly yellow and took her to Victoria Hospital.
“They said everything was okay and she just had an infection so I took Lucy home but the symptoms got worse and I took her back on Christmas Eve and they realised how serious it was.
“You never think these things happen until they happen to you. You don’t expect your children to come home from school one day and the next they are slipping into a coma.”
The doctors performed the operation and it was a complete success, although Lucy will still be forced to take medication for the rest of her life to stop her body rejecting the new organ.
Heather and dad Paul, 46, spent two months in the Midlands before Lucy was allowed to return home to be reunited with her big sister, seven-year-old Amelie.
The keen athlete is now back fighting fit and competed in her school’s Sports Day in the summer.
Her ambition is to one day win an Olympic gold medal for sprinting.
Her family will now throw a big birthday party for Lucy and invite all her friends and family.
Heather added: “It just doesn’t seem like twelve months ago because it has been such a difficult, surreal year and the time has just flown by.
“We’re going to make sure we have a great Christmas to make up for what we missed last year.”
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