Wiltshire's Amelia thrives at school after gift of donor heart
Organ Donation Week 2026: After spending 18 months at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) waiting for a life-saving heart transplant, five-year-old Amelia Bolter is now enjoying school and family life. Her mum Jodie – who was supported by The Sick Children’s Trust at their Guilford Street House ‘Home from Home’ throughout Amelia’s time at GOSH – reflects on their extraordinary journey and why she believes every family should discuss organ donation.
Five-year-old Amelia Bolter is a happy, energetic little girl who has just started primary school, loves playing with her sister Blossom, and trying to keep up with Ellis, her lively 17-month-old brother. For mum Jodie and dad Rich, seeing Amelia settling into full days at school is something they could scarcely have imagined in October 2022, when their family began an 18-month stay in London while Amelia waited for a heart transplant.
Today, Amelia is doing so well that, to those around her, there is little indication of what she has been through. “She’s like a normal little five-year-old girl,” says Jodie, from Chippenham in Wiltshire. “You wouldn’t even think anything happened. She just fits right in, which is so nice.”
Amelia was a one-year-old when she was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy, a form of heart failure, after Jodie took her to the doctors with what she thought was an ear infection. When her condition deteriorated, Amelia was transferred from Bristol Children’s Hospital to GOSH in central London. She was placed on a Berlin Heart – a machine which takes over the pumping work – while she awaited a suitable donor heart.
The family were supported by The Sick Children’s Trust at Guilford Street House, a free ‘Home from Home’ just minutes from Amelia’s ward at GOSH. Jodie arrived in London seven months pregnant and, while Amelia waited for her transplant, gave birth to their second daughter, Blossom. She was born just 20 minutes away and spent the first year and a half of her life living at Guilford Street House. Looking back, Jodie says having somewhere away from the intensity of the hospital ward was invaluable, a place where they could simply be a family.
“It really felt like home to us because of those home comforts,” says Jodie. “As well as our own room, there was also a lounge with the telly. It was so nice, and the staff are so kind and friendly. You'd sit there in front of the telly, have a cup of tea and some biscuits, and you think it feels like home. It just gives you that break from hospital life.”
Staying at Guilford Street House helped ease some of the financial pressure that came with such a long period away from home, where mortgage and household bills continued to arrive with little regard for Amelia’s life-threatening situation. Rich, a postal worker, was able to transfer his job to London, while Jodie received maternity pay and financial support as Amelia’s carer. To thank the charity for their support, upon leaving the home the family organised an array of fundraising events, from football matches to quiz nights, raffles, bingo, auctions and even a skydive.
“After we left, we worked out how much it cost the charity for us to stay for 18 months, we actually raised the money to pay it back,” says Jodie. “It felt really good to give back after what this amazing charity gave to us, keeping us with Amelia that entire time. It really was the least we could do.”
While Amelia eventually received her life-saving transplant and is doing well, her journey has not been without challenges. Last year she developed post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder, a form of cancer, which meant five weeks in hospital followed by further treatment. She is now stable and continues to have regular monitoring, including appointments with her local oncology team. At school, she receives speech and language support and help from teaching assistants when she needs it.
And while Amelia continues to have regular medical checks, family life has moved on in ways Jodie could never have predicted during those long months in London. Living back in Chippenham, Blossom is now doing well at nursery, Ellis is an energetic 17-month-old, and Jodie and Rich got married last year. For Jodie, none of it would have been possible without the selfless generosity of an organ donor and their family.
“Amelia is here because of them, and we’ll never, ever forget that”, says Jodie. “It is the reason why all our kids, even Ellis, are registered donors. If the unthinkable happens and one of them isn’t going to make it, it can offer another child their life back. Nobody wants to think about it, but I find that thought quite comforting, a part of my child living through someone else. Organ donation can be so difficult to think or talk about, particularly when it involves a child, but it’s so important to have conversations around this.”
For Amelia, the gift of organ donation means a future that includes school, siblings, family life and all the everyday moments her parents once feared they might never experience. And that gift is priceless.
Family support for child organ donation*
Family Consent Requirement: The UK now operates under a deemed consent system whereby it is assumed you want to be a donor unless you opt out. However, families will always be asked to support that decision for organ donation to go ahead. Those under the age or 18 are exempt from deemed consent and the family will decide whether or not to donate their child's organs.
There were 30 child organ donors (under the age of 18) in 2025/26. In the same period 255 children received a transplant, 160 from a deceased donor and 95 from a living donor.
In 2025/26, eight children sadly died on the waiting list for an organ transplant. More young donors are needed to help the children waiting for a lifesaving transplant.
Anyone of any age can register as an organ donor and in cases where a child was already registered on the NHS Organ Donor Register, no family went against this decision.
If you’d like to learn more about organ donation or wish to register as an organ donor, please click here.
* Information provided to The Sick Children’s Trust by NHS Blood and Transplant.
Photo Credits: The Bolter family / The Sick Children’s Trust.
