Eighth heart operation for James

By Kate Beetham
Fight for Life, Series producer

A new series on BBC One follows real life patients in A&E and operating theatres with specially shot material and unique computer generated imagery to show the fight for survival from the inside.

James has now undergone eight operations on his heart

James Harney is only eight years old, but he has already lived through more trauma than most people encounter in their entire lives.

James was born with a congenital heart defect and had already undergone seven operations on his heart.

Last year, James had his eighth - a heart transplant at Great Ormond Street Hospital, London (GOSH).

It was the only chance he had of living to adulthood.

Complex surgery

Although over 200 heart transplants have been performed at the hospital, it is still a complex and difficult operation.

James was rushed from his home in Ireland to the hospital, once it became clear a suitable donor heart was available.

The surgery takes in excess of eight hours.

In James' case his heart had to be permanently removed from his body even before the new heart arrived.

Recovering from his transplant, James fell victim to an infection

The surgical team started the surgery when the new heart was still hours away.

But for James and his parents, the actual operation was only the beginning of weeks of struggle.

For heart transplant patients the time immediately following the operation is also a time of danger.

James was pumped full of drugs to suppress his immune system and this laid him open to opportunistic infections.

Risk of death

In the days following the operation James fell victim to a Candida, or fungal, infection, in his lungs.

His parents, John and Siobhan were told that his risk of death was around one in three.

Dr Alan Goodman, from GOSH, explained: "Fungal infections, particularly if they take hold in transplant patients, can have devastating effects.

"And it's not infrequent if you get a systemic Candida infection through his body that it will affect all his organs and that he then could end up going into what we call multi-organ failure, which means one by one his organs would start packing up."

James is now healthy and active

However, with a combination of drugs and through the resilience of his own defence mechanisms, James pulled through.

He is now a healthy young boy, active and happy.

He is back at home with his parents, who are still coming to terms with their experience.

John Harney reflected that for somebody to give their heart through good-will, and for someone to then take that and give it somebody else went beyond science.

He said: "To take life and give life. . . I don't know what that is called."

He said it was the closest thing to a miracle as you could get.

"This is what we are talking about - miracles."

Fight for Life was broadcast on 16 July 2007 at 2100 BST on BBC One.