A GIRL with a rare heart condition has been waiting over a year for a transplant to save her life.

Anna Hadley, aged 14, from Worcester has restrictive cardiomyopathy, which was only discovered after Anna collapsed in 2016, and again in 2017. It has left her unable to do many of the sports she loves and facing a heart transplant.

“When I first found out about my condition I was extremely scared and frightened. We used to be on edge waiting for a call and every time the phone rang we thought that was it. We’ve now got used to it and I don’t think about it too much, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

“A transplant would mean everything to me. I could go back to enjoying every day life and doing everything I really enjoy.

“I would feel really blessed and incredibly thankful to the donor and family that donated to me.

Anna said: “I am an extremely sporty person but because of my condition I have had to restrict myself. My heart can’t cope.

“I’ve had to stop doing some of the things I love to do. I’d just got into the county hockey squad when I was diagnosed so not being able to carry on with that has been the most disappointing thing.

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“It’s important to raise awareness of organ donation, people don’t really think about kids that need donors. Children also need donors so every family should have that conversation.”

Around one in four children on the transplant waiting list are in need of a heart and young patients face a much longer wait for an urgent heart transplant than adults.

There are 192 children in the UK waiting for organ transplant and 42 of them need a heart.

It is particularly difficult to find a donor for children and babies in need of a heart. The size of the heart is important, meaning a donor of a similar size is needed

As a result young patients face a wait that is more than two and a half times as long as for adult.