A fantastic update to advise everyone that today Sam won 3 gold medals in South Africa and is swimming again tomorrow so watch this space!!  Well, another day and another two medals!  Another gold and a silver bringing the total coming back home with Sam to:

4 gold and 1 silver just brilliant Sam!  Well done you! Just fantastic!

 

A BIG THANK YOU to everybody who has donated and fund-raised to get me to South Africa to take part in the 2013 Transplant Games.  We leave next Thursday and I will do my very best to bring a medal back for you all.

 

My story:

I am Sam Griffiths.I am 12 years old.I was born at the North Staffordshire Hospital and to begin with all appeared to be fine. However, at 6 hours old the Doctor noticed I was slightly blue. I was immediately hooked up to a ventilator and was taken to Birmingham Children’s Hospital where they confirmed I had a rare and complex congenital heart defect. At one day old I had a cardiac catheter procedure and at two days old I had my first open heart surgery.

The next 8 months were spent in and out of hospital due to problems with heart function, related illness's and most dominantly my inability to thrive. At around 8/9 months old I had my second open heart surgery. I came through the operation but had a cardiac arrest that night.

I then continued to be in and out of hospital, and not long after my 2nd birthday I was rushed in due to heart failure. I deteriorated further and on Christmas day I was sent down to intensive care and my family were told to say goodbye. The next day I was still fighting. A week later on New Year’s Day the same thing happened and I was back on the ward with my family being told that I would need a new heart as soon as possible. At this point I was put on a new experimental drug.

I was taken down to Gt. Ormond Street Hospital in London and was put on the waiting list. I went back home after a month and began to thrive and improve so my family made the decision to take me off the waiting list as we had heard nothing of a new heart at that stage.

However, I continued to have various problems over the next few years, some serious and some not so serious, with another open heart surgery being performed but failing. During this time I also underwent many minor operations.

In March 2008 we went to Birmingham Children’s Hospital for a routine appointment to be told I would have to stay as the scan of my heart showed the heart function had gotten a lot worse. My family knew this would mean Transplant, but Birmingham Children’s Hospital wanted to try and fix a leaking valve a second time as it was this that was causing major problems. I had a metallic valve implanted and for the first 24 hours it seemed successful, unfortunately the operation put me into complete heart block, the electrical signals of the heart were all misfiring, so 3 weeks later I had a pacemaker fitted. The valve leak had not improved.

I never properly recovered from the last hospital stint and subsequently was re admitted to Birmingham Children’s Hospital and I went through Transplant assessment, this time at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle-on-Tyne. Having spend 2 more months in Birmingham, deteriorating rapidly, at midnight on the 7th of July we got the call we'd been waiting for and I was rushed to Freeman’s Hospital where I undertook a full heart transplant.

The rest is history and thanks to all the brilliant medical support and the love and support of my family, especially my lovely Mum, Dad, sisters and brother, I am now enjoying my life, and especially my swimming. I took part in the TSUK games the last two years and proudly won 3 gold medals in each.

I am now very excited about taking part in the World Transplant Games in Durban, South Africa in 2013. I need to raise £12,000 in order that my family can support me on this big occasion. Any excess funds will be donated to TSUK to support the WTG Junior Team.

My life was saved by organ donation. What would you do if your loved one needed a transplant?' Even if you can't offer financial support, please consider joining the NHS Organ Donor Register. To find out how to join the NHS Organ Donor Register, visit http://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/ukt/or contact the Organ Donor Line on 0300 123 23 23 or text SAVE to 84118. Most importantly, talk about Organ Donation with your friends and family.

Thank you for reading my story.

So please dig deep and donate now.