Heart transplant survivor Elliott Livingstone has finally gone home after spending more than half his young life at Great Ormond Street.
The two-year-old, who was the face of the Standard’s Give to Gosh campaign, was able to walk out of the hospital after 420 days.
He spent more time on a mechanical heart machine waiting for a transplant than any other child in the UK, but finally left with his new heart this week.
Mother Candace said: “I don’t think we actually believed this day would ever come.
"We saw so many other transplant patients come and go in our time that we resigned ourselves to always be in the limbo of waiting for a transplant.
“I don’t think we actually believed it was happening until we were in the car and waving goodbye to everybody.”
Mrs Livingstone, who had stayed at Great Ormond Street with Elliott since he was admitted 14 months ago, said the family were now looking forward to simple things like waking up in the same house as each other and sitting on the sofa together at home in Hook, Hampshire.
Elliott suffered from dilated cardiomyopathy and his only hope was a transplant, carried out after a wait of more than a year.
His story inspired Standard readers to donate to our campaign which raised £3.5 million for the hospital.
Elliott, who also needed treatment for a rare form of rejection, is now looking forward to a holiday, seeing dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum and visiting the zoo.
His father Adrian is raising money for the GOSH campaign with sponsored runs. To donate go to www.justgiving.com/adrianlivingstone2016
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