Scarlett, the three-year-old who's on her FOURTH heart: Girl beats rare condition to celebrate Christmas

Scarlett Leybourne diagnosed with enlarged heart at six months old

Mother Ashleigh told it was unlikely she would survive

Condition appeared to heal itself, but then got worse again

Toddler spent last Christmas in hospital isolation on artificial heart

Has now had a transplant and will be spending Christmas with family

There are lots of things Scarlett Ungurs doesn’t want for Christmas this year. No doctors, no nurses, no tubes to be hooked up to, and definitely no hospitals.



And as her mother, watching her lively three-year-old exploring under the Christmas tree, is delighted to say, Scarlett’s wish is coming true.



In fact, this is the first Christmas her little girl will really be able to enjoy the magic of the season, free of the health problems that nearly cost her life.



Home for Christmas: Three-year-old Scarlett Leybourne and her mother Ashleigh will be celebrating Christmas at home this year after Scarlett spent the last one in hospital because of a life-threatening heart condition



Scarlett Ungurs has been fighting for her life ever since she was diagnosed with a rare heart condition when she was just six months old.



Placed at the top of the transplant list and kept alive by an artificial heart, doctors told her parents, Ashleigh Leybourne, 28, and Darren Ungurs, 34, to expect the worst.



At their lowest ebb, the couple even started to make funeral arrangements.



Even when Scarlett started to recover without having a transplant after her heart healed itself she then caught a nasty chest infection and she was once again forced to rely on an artificial heart.



Luckily four months later Scarlett underwent a successful heart transplant and began making a full recovery.



Now her mother has described her relief at having her daughter home in time for her fourth Christmas with an all clear.



Scarlett was diagnosed with a rare condition aged just six months meaning her heart was enlarged

Close to death: Doctors didn't think she would make it to her first birthday and her parents even started making funeral arrangements as her health failed her

The family from Newcastle Upon Tyne, say they cannot wait to spend the day with her now there is no longer a need for Scarlett to be in kept isolation as she was last year.



Miss Leybourne said: ‘We’re so excited for Christmas this year. We are going to spend the day with all of our family, which we couldn’t do last year because Scarlett was so ill she wasn’t allowed to come into contact with other people.



‘When she was ill we went from being a normal family to being in pieces. It was absolutely awful.



‘Then we thought she had recovered and she ended up in hospital again, we just couldn’t believe she had gone back to square one - well worse even.



Alone: Last year Scarlett was so ill she had to be kept in hospital isolation as human contact could have killed her

Desperate: During her last illness Scarlett had to have operation virtually every day due to internal bleeding

Artificial heart: Machine kept Scarlett alive as surgeons worried she might not live long enough for a transplant

‘We didn’t expect her to make it through - she was so ill. But now she has recovered we are just so relieved.’



Scarlett was born weighing a healthy 8lb 8oz in December 2010. But at six months she developed a persistent cough which was diagnosed as a chest infection.



When her breathing got worse, a consultant changed suggested she was suffering from asthma, but it was only by chance that Scarlett was x-rayed by a trainee doctor who found that her heart was seriously enlarged.



Scarlett was close to death, with her heart functioning at just four per cent, and she was hooked up to an artificial organ to keep her alive.



As the family waited nervously for a transplant heart to become available, astonishingly Scarlett’s heart appeared to heal itself - a process only seen in 20 cases worldwide.



Fighter: However Scarlett pulled through and will be spending Christmas at home with family this year

Thankful: Ashleigh says that without the kindness of a stranger donating their heart Scarlett wouldn't be here

But the happiness was short-lived when the youngster fell ill again just months later.



Scarlett spent four months waiting for a transplant and underwent an operation almost daily while waiting, due to internal bleeding. Her parents were told three times their daughter was not going to make it so they began to make funeral plans.



But the tot pulled through yet again, and now, despite the trauma, Scarlett appears to be just like any other three year old.



Miss Leybourne said: ‘Scarlett has been through so much, she has had about 20 operations and about half have been quite major.



‘Before Scarlett got the heart transplant the surgeons told us she was in real trouble. The night before her transplant was horrendous. I was planning her funeral in my head some nights.



‘It’s a massive relief to know our baby girl is home once and for all and is back to being her cheeky little self.

