All hope was thought to be lost, but was it…

When she was five, she had to have two operations on her right cardiac valve to mend the defect. She was so terrified of having the ops that she tried to hide. But it didn't work the doctor sat her down, and told her that she had to have these operations to make her feel better. I think she did feel better for a while. She started to look happy again. But her doctor called us back in and told us that it wouldn't last.

"Unless Tamara has a heart transplant, she'll die," he said.

She was too young to understand but we were devastated. We knew that they just had to find her a heart. But finding one wasn't that easy. You can't just have anybody's. They have to be healthy, of a similar age to Tamara and the right tissue type. It seemed like it would be impossible for us to ever find one. It sounds awful but we were basically sitting there waiting for the right person to die. Tamara was still too young to really understand. She knew that there was something wrong with her heart, but she didn't know a lot else. We didn't know if the right heart would ever become available.

Over the years she started to get weaker and weaker. But when she was 12, her doctor gave us some good news. They had found a well known heart specialist who had agreed to help treat Tamara. It took a bit of the worry away knowing that she was in good hands. But we were still waiting for the right donor to come along.

We watched over her as she started to grow up. She used to ask me why she was not normal like everyone else? She hated forever being ill and not being able to do anything that her friends did. We were so worried about her because if a heart did turn up she had to be healthy enough to have it straight away. This meant that she could not go to school to see her friends. She used to say well at least it will be worth it in the end. We were so proud of Tamara and how she coped.

After more months of waiting, the hospital called us with some news. An 8-year old boy had just died in a car crash, and his parents had agreed to let Tamara have his heart. I felt sad for the poor little boy who had been killed, but excited at the same time. Keith was really glad. This was it; the chance we had all been waiting for was finally here.

Things started to move quickly. Keith, Tamara and I went straight to the hospital to prepare for the op. You could see the happiness in Tamara's face. Then, a couple of hours before the transplant was due, we got some terrible news. We couldn't believe it. The young boy's parents had changed their mind. We were all so devastated; it could have been Tamara's last chance. The doctors told us that time was running out for her and unless they could find another heart soon, she would die. Tamara was now really ill she didn't know what was going on. She was extremely weak and had to stay in hospital. Keith and me were really frantic by this time there was no way we were going to let her die now.

Then, on September 11 last year we got the news that another heart was now available. This time a 12-year old boy had been killed in a car crash. We all knew that this was it. We found ourselves rushing to hospital once more.

Later that night, after a 5-hour operation she was brought up to intensive care. At last she had her heart that we had waited so long for. She was still really sick though. She stayed in intensive care for 42 days drifting in and out of consciousness. We all stood around waiting for the signs that her body had accepted the boy's heart, and they did start to appear.

Soon after, we found ourselves at home. The danger still wasn't over. I had to clean the whole house every day in case Tamara caught an infection, which could still make her body reject the heart. It was difficult but I knew I had to do it for Tamara.

Gradually we seemed to get back to being a normal family. Tamara would say we were better than normal. The doctors won't be sure if she is completely recovered for about five years. She still has to take lots of medication but at least she's getting stronger. Sometimes we even forget that there is something wrong with her. We have recently joined a charity, which helps to put across to people why they should donate their organs. We are so grateful to the doctors who helped to save Tamara's life and the little boy's parents.