Have a heart for brave seven-month-old Whitney

Henry Siu

Little Whitney is only seven months old and instead of a bouncing healthy baby, she is critically ill and in urgent need of a heart transplant.

Her heart is functioning at only 20 percent, according to the Hong Kong Children's Hospital in Kowloon Bay, where her parents appealed for a heart donation.

She has been diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy, a condition in which her heart enlarges and cannot pump blood effectively.

Whitney has been relying on a biventricular assist device in the intensive care unit since October 18 to keep her alive.

"Transplant is the only way to save Whitney and it has to be done as soon as possible, otherwise there is a high chance of serious symptoms such as cerebral hemorrhage, stroke or infection and can be life-threatening," the hospital said.

Her family first searched for a heart in October. The Hospital Authority also sought assistance from the mainland.

"What we can only do is accompany Whitney in her ward and ask doctors if her situation has turned better. But we know that only a heart transplant can save her," the father said.

"Whitney has been very brave. We will not give up and wish for a miracle for a suitable heart," he said.

She suffered sepsis and respiratory failure on January 13 via her cardiac catheter but is now conscious, being fed through a nasogastric tube and on antibiotics as she was infected again yesterday.

She was first diagnosed with cardiogenic shock due to a heart dysfunction on September 14 and underwent pulmonary artery banding - a surgery wrapping a band around her pulmonary artery.

Her condition worsened on September 28 and she had to put on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, a heart-lung machine, to provide cardiac and respiratory support.

Heart donors must be between seven and 22 kilograms but there is no need for a blood type match.