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Little Hasnath Siddiqueyspent two years waiting for the heart transplant that will save his life.

But the brave five-year-old had superhero help to keep him alive - a special Batman vest.

The youngster has proved he himself is a real superhero after beating the odds to survive and now he is able to do everything his classmates do after receiving his transplant.

His proud mum, Afia, 39, from Darlington, County Durham, told the Chronicle Live : “Hasnath developed a heart condition called dilated cardiomyopathy - a disease of the heart muscle where it becomes stretched and thin.

"It meant that Hasnath’s heart was not able to pump blood around his body properly and so he was referred to the Children’s Heart Unit at Freeman Hospital .

(Image: Newcastle Chronicle) (Image: Newcastle Chronicle)

“He had surgery on Boxing Day in 2014 after suddenly deteriorating and had to be fitted with a device to keep his heart beating.

“The device had to be carried in a vest but there wasn’t one available for a child as small as Hasnath, so they had to make him one. He loved his Superheroes so it came as a Batman vest.”

The ventricular assistive device or VAD is a mechanical pump used as a bridge to transplant, and was given to Hasnath when he was just three-years-old whilst he waited for a suitable donor heart to become available.

As the device was originally designed for adults, there were no options available for Hasnath to carry it around comfortably and safely. Although he was tired with a poor appetite, this meant that Hasnath could not move around freely.

(Image: Newcastle Chronicle)

Catherine Forster, an advanced occupational therapist at the Freeman Hospital, was part of the team of health professionals looking after Hasnath.

When she realised the predicament Hasnath was in, she decided to find a solution working in collaboration with colleagues at the hospital’s Medical Physics Department and Care-Ability Healthcare Ltd – a specialist manufacturer of moving and handling products for the healthcare industry based in the North East.

Together they came up with a special vest for children, funded by the Children’s Cardiothoracic Transplant Fund, which would hold the device and all of its parts in one place, allowing its young wearer to get out and about unhindered.

Catherine said: “As an occupational therapist, I didn’t want the device to impact on my patient’s daily activities.

(Image: Newcastle Chronicle)

"It was important that he was able to continue to do all the things an active, inquisitive three-year-old wants to do, so he could meet his social, emotional and physical developmental milestones.

“Our priority was to make sure the device could be carried as easily, and as comfortably as possible.

"So, when designing the vest, we considered all aspects of the design, moving and handling from both the child’s and parents’ perspective.”

Catherine added: “We also wanted to make sure that visually, the vest was appealing so they enjoyed wearing it. In this case, I knew that Hasnath was a big fan of Batman, so we themed the vest around the superhero – giving him extra superpowers!”

Thankfully, not long after having the VAD device implanted Hasnath had a heart transplant and now he is back at school and doing extremely well.

Afia added: “There are so many people to thank for the care that Hasnath has received at the Freeman Hospital.

"His consultants were amazing and saved my little boy’s life. They are so dedicated at what they do and the sacrifice they make to be there for our children is astounding.”

“The staff on the paediatric intensive care unit and Ward 23 were also fantastic and helped us through this traumatic time, especially Amy the psychologist and Catherine who helped us come to terms with everything that happened.

(Image: Newcastle Chronicle)

"And the paediatric cardiology team who continue to care for Hasnath are marvellous – Julie, Terry and Dr Zdenka Reinhardt.”

Mark Willcock, Business Development Manager at family run Care Ability Healthcare in Washington said he was happy to help Hasnath.

He added: “Care-Ability Healthcare have a long history of supplying vital equipment required for people to lead full and independent lives.

“Quite often this consists of us creating bespoke items tailored to meet an individual’s specific needs.

“We are a local family run business and many of our staff have young families themselves, so we feel very strongly about helping children in need of specialist care equipment.

"When Catherine contacted us we knew immediately that this was a project we wanted to be involved in.

"When we met Hasnath and his parents it was clear we needed to use our extensive expertise to help create an item that would be functional but more importantly, something that Hasnath would be willing to use daily.

“When we manufactured the Vest, we hand delivered the equipment to the unit personally. It was so emotional to see Hasnath wear the vest for the first time and to chase me around the ward pretending I was the Joker.

"For him to be able to do this was a fantastic reward and made us very proud to be involved. It was also very satisfying to be involved with such a great team at the Children’s Heart Unit at Freeman Hospital. They are truly inspirational.”

Afia, who now volunteers for the charity which is dedicated to the Children’s Heart Unit at the Freeman Hospital CHUF, also pays tribute to the many other partner organisations who supported the family whilst Hasnath was in hospital, many miles from home.

“I would like to thank CHUF, the Sick Children’s Trust who run Scott House where we were able to stay for weeks on end, Shelly from the Rainbow Trust, the British Heart Foundation and Interserve. They all helped to make our time here in Newcastle so much easier.”

Afia also has a special mention for Hasnath’s teacher Mrs Kirkman. “I must thank all the staff at Hasnath’s school – Abbey Infant School – and especially Mrs Kirkman who supported Hasnath in his first year at school.

“Also Kiddies Corner Nursery for looking after his younger brother Yusuf when we were at clinic with Hasnath, and the Life Stages Team at Darlington Borough Council who provided us with support when we were discharged back home and paid nursery fees for Yusuf to go to the Free Spirits Nursery at the Freeman Hospital.”