Shropshire mother turns heartbreak into hope to help families in hospital for Christmas

Tracey Croft, of Myddle, near Wem, lost her daughter Zoe on Christmas Eve last year from difficulties with her heart several years after having a transplant.

Today, Mrs Croft has backed the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham Charity's Christmas Campaign which is raising money to support the thousands of patients and their families who will be in hospital at Christmas.

Zoe, a fun-loving 21-year-old, fell ill five years ago in 2011, when she was just 16.

She was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy, a condition in which the heart's ability to pump blood is decreased because the heart's main pumping chamber is enlarged and weakened, and needed an urgent transplant to save her life.

A heart was found just five days after Zoe was put on the waiting list. The months that followed saw Zoe make a full recovery, as she began to enjoy the things she had missed out on while in hospital. Mrs Croft said: "She was looking forward to finishing her exams, going to prom and getting on with her future.

"I'll never forget receiving that phone call which turned our world upside down. What started as breathlessness and sickness actually turned out to be cardiac failure. Zoe was rushed to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham where she was put straight into intensive care.

"Every day we were waiting for a heart felt like an eternity," Mrs Croft said.

"When the doctors came to tell us that the transplant had been a success, we were overcome with joy and thankfulness.

"There were no words to express how lucky and happy we felt."

But just four and a half years after Zoe's transplant, and one month after her 21st birthday, Zoe began to experience breathlessness again and was readmitted to QEHB.

"We knew something wasn't right," Mrs Croft said. "After seven weeks of doctors trying everything they possibly could, it became apparent that Zoe's antibodies were attacking her heart, and nothing could be done to save her."

Zoe died in the early hours of Christmas Eve surrounded by her friends and family.

Now, the brave family are backing QEHB Charity's Christmas Campaign which is raising money to support the thousands of patients and their families who will be in hospital at Christmas.

Mrs Croft said: "One thing that will never leave me is how brave Zoe was.

"I am proud to be able to share her story to help other patients and families who may experience illness or loss at Christmas, and I know that if Zoe was here, she would want to do all she could to help others like her, and others like us."

* To find out more about QEHB Charity's Christmas Campaign or to make a donation, visit qehbchristmas.org or call 0121 371 4852.