One of the stars of the first episode of Channel 4's Geordie Hospital is Kit Matthews, then aged four.
The little lad - from Retford in the Midlands - features as he and his family prepare for him to be moved from one version of an artificial heart to another more flexible machine as he waits for a transplant.
The show was filmed last year, and Kit has now had that transplant and is "going from strength to strength" - but as his story is told on TV both his family and the consultant who looked after him at the Freeman Hospital are keen to highlight just how important organ donation is.
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Kit's dad Joe is a heart-transplant recipient himself - and he told ChronicleLive about a traumatic year for his young family.
"About April 16 was when it started. He wasn't feeling the best. Kit loves chocolate - and we knew he wasn't right as he just wasn't interested," he said.
"Naturally we just thought he had a bad childhood cold like everyone else. Hannah my wife took him to the GP and they took some bloods but everything came back alright. He was still off his food."
After Joe and Hannah were told to take Kit to hospital, alarm bells began to ring for medics and they were quickly referred to hospital in Leeds. This was especially difficult as Kit's little brother Monty was just 2 at the time - and they family had to spend lots of time apart, and Joe said he and Hannah were also incredibly proud of their younger son for coping with such upheaval.
Joe continued: "On the Saturday we got referred up to Leeds. Kit was just 4 and everyone wanted a piece of him to take bloods and do scans. It was awful for Hannah and myself, but clearly really horrible for him."
Soon after, when it became clear quite how poorly Kit's heart was - he, like his dad more than a decade ago was suffering from cardiomyopathy - the family were told he would need specialist care rapidly. Space was available at the Freeman's world-renowned children's heart unit.
Joe added: "We arrived on the Monday evening and they operated to put him on the VAD (ventricular assist device).
"We had gone from him wrestling with his brother to him in surgery in a critical condition, pretty much just like that. And we knew he might not survive the operation even."
Kit pulled through though, and was fitted with a Berlin Heart - which kept him alive while he waited for a transplant. That transplant happened later in the year - the NHS is careful not to say exactly when so as not to identify the donor - and by Christmas Kit was at home with his family, "back to normal" and again playing any kid should with his little brother.
Joe said: "Now, he's gone from strength to strength. He's really shown how strong he really is and how resilient kids are. The majority of adults even would have given up.
"He knows exactly what's happened to him. I was on a VAD and he's seen pictures of me in a similar state to he was before. So he could see that - as I'm doing so well now - it was going to work and it made sense to him. "He doesn't stop running. We have our Kit back. He's almost exactly the same, if anything, he's matured."
Speaking before the show aired, Joe said he was looking forward to seeing Geordie Hospital - though he wasn't sure his eldest son felt the same. "For him, now it's something done, " he said. "I don't think he really wants to revisit it. But for me, it's important I want everyone to see the benefit transplants can have. To spread that message and raise awareness."
Dr Emma Simpson - a paediatric intensive care consultant who looked after Kit - agreed.
Recounting Kit's story - and emphasising that it is similar for many children the unit says, and sadly the outcome is not always a happy one - she added: "Kit, like many of our patients was in a very sick state when he came to us. His heart and circulatory system wasn't providing for his body's needs. He needed intensive care and was really sick - and at risk of cardiac arrest and the body's organs failing.
"It was key to get him onto VAD. For someone of Kit's size there was only really one option of a pump - and it requires a pretty big operation. The idea is to reduce the risk of cardiac arrest and hopefully put him in a better position for a transplant."
The staff at the Freeman work very closely with the company who creates Berlin Hearts - and were among the first to use the new, smaller device which Kit is seen being fitted with on TV. That allows parents to take their child off the ward for several hours.
"He was very sick after the initial operation, but he got a little better and was able to move back to the ward and we were keen to get him onto the smaller Berlin Heart machine," Dr Simpson added. "It's a real help and we're always really keen to get families as much autonomy as they can.
"Kit loved going to the park, or the family would take him around the hospital or to the fruit and veg seller."
Echoing Joe, Dr Simpson said she hoped having featured on Geordie Hospital would have a positive impact.
"I have no real interest in being on TV myself - I did it to showcase the team's achievements and to also highlight that there is this group of patients.
"Society needs to sit up and realise there are children in hospital with heart failure and they need transplants.
"Without the generosity of families at the most difficult time imaginable, there's not be hope for children like Kit. Organ donation is something that needs to be discussed."
Geordie Hospital airs on Mondays on Channel 4 from 8pm. It will also be available on All4.
