Little girl, 4, gets huge boost from Keir Starmer for organ donor crusade

A little girl with a big heart has received a huge boost in her crusade to teach about organ donation in schools - from the Prime Minister himself.

The Mirror told how four-year-old Beatrix Adamson-Archbold delivered a letter to Sir Keir Starmer at No 10 in July. The brave tot waited more than 15 months in the Freeman Hospital, Newcastle for her heart transplant. Her dad Terry is campaigning for organ donor lessons to be part of the national curriculum.

So he decided to make Bea's letter a special delivery. And Sir Keir has sent her a message of support, telling her: "The organs in our body are very important and it is good for children and adults to learn about them... By the end of their time at secondary school, children should know about the science relating to blood, tissue and organs."

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Terry, 47, a police officer from Burnopfield, Co Durham, has also won the support of his local Labour MP Liz Twist. He said: "I have spoken a great deal about organ donation with Bea and I decided to put down everything she said in a letter to the Prime Minister."

Bea wrote to Sir Keir: "I have a special heart, I had a heart transplant and it saved my life." She told the PM that lessons in schools "can help save kids like me."

He replied: "I am so sorry to hear that you had a poorly heart, that must have been difficult for you and your family. I am pleased that you were able to have a heart transplant and are better now.

"Thank you very much for writing to me. I am sure you will make an excellent doctor." He added, in answer to Beatrix's question about music: "My favourite band is Orange Juice. You may have to ask your dad about them."

Terry also wrote to the Prime Minister calling on the Government to make organ donation a statutory part of the National Curriculum.

He is being supported by Beatrix's mum Cheryl Adamson, 42, a council worker. In 2018, they lost their daughter Isabel when she was stillborn and they donated her heart for medical research.

The Mirror Change the Law for Life campaign brought the opt out system to England for organ donation in May, 2020.

Max and Keira's Law was named in honour of our campaigner Max Johnson, now 17, and his heart donor Keira Ball, who died aged nine in 2017 after a tragic car accident near her home in Barnstaple, Devon.

Her dad Joe elected to donate her organs, saving four lives. The new law means people are presumed to be donors in England unless they opt out of the system, though the consent of loved ones is always sought before any donation is made.

*Visit www.organdonation.nhs.uk.