Life-saving connection: Best friends met after matching organ transplants

12-year-old Hollie Beattie from Bangor, Northern Ireland, and 13-year-old Hollie Mistry, from Daventry, Northamptonshire became best friends in hospital. They would never have met if it wasn’t for their double lung transplants. Their parents also found incredible friendship, bonding over their shared experience of having a child with a life-threatening condition.

Hollie B was a healthy child until one day, when she was 7, her eyesight became blurred, her lips turned purple, and she fainted.

She was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension, a serious condition where there is high blood pressure in the blood vessels that supply the lungs. It leads to reduced blood flow which can damage the right side of the heart, as the heart has to work extremely hard to pump blood around the body.

Although Hollie responded to medication for a few years, her team at GOSH always knew she’d require a double lung transplant eventually. After a rapid deterioration, in 2023 Hollie was added to the urgent transplant register and transported by air-ambulance to GOSH. Incredibly, less than 24 hours later, a suitable donor match had been found.

Hollie’s mum, Marion Beattie, said: “It was shocking to get a match so soon. When Hollie went in for her transplant it was mixed emotions- I was scared for Hollie, relieved she’d get her new lungs, but also sad for another family as they were going through what we never wanted to go through.”

Hollie M was diagnosed with restricted cardiomyopathy when she was 4 after her mum took her to hospital with a suspected chest infection.

Restrictive cardiomyopathy is a rare condition where the walls of the main heart chambers become stiff after contracting, which means the heart cannot fill up properly with blood. This results in restricted blood flow.

With her heart having to work overtime, Hollie’s heart condition had also caused pulmonary hypertension.

Once Hollie’s hypertension was controlled by medication, she was listed for an extremely rare heart and double-lung transplant.

Unlike her best friend, Hollie M was on the transplant list for a long time. Andrea Mistry, Hollie’s mum, said: “During those 3 years Hollie deteriorated dramatically – there became a point where she couldn’t go to school, walk down the stairs, and her feet were always freezing cold.”

Miraculously in 2023, a donor heart and pair of lungs were found just in time.

The Hollies met through their parents, who discovered there was a fellow Hollie next door to them in the intensive care unit (ICU), who had the same name, a double lung transplant, and was just 6-months apart in age.

After leaving the ICU and moving to Bear ward, Hollie B’s mum encouraged her to get in touch with Hollie M. Hollie B asked a nurse to pass a note under Hollie M’s door offering support and reassuring words about procedures they were nervous about and a phone number. At the end of the note, it read: ‘PS. Wanna be friends?’.

To Hollie B’s delight, Hollie M texted back. They’ve been inseparable since.

The girls bonded over their experiences in hospital and the realities of recovering from an organ transplant. They shared reassuring words about upcoming procedures, connected over similar symptoms, and played games together.

Reflecting on finding friendship in an unexpected place, Hollie B said: “It is good to have a friend who understands everything that has happened in hospital.”

Hollie M said: “I wasn’t looking to find a friend in hospital, but I found Hollie, and I really value our friendship. A normal friend wouldn’t understand what it’s like, but Hollie could understand what a cannula is like and how it can hurt.”

Although living hundreds of miles apart the friends don’t let it stop them continuing to share hospital milestones. Alongside celebrating their transplant anniversaries together, when returning for check-ups at GOSH the lung transplant team schedule their appointments for a similar time so they can see each other.

It isn’t just the Hollies that found support in their friendship, but their parents too. Marion said: “Andrea and I were introduced by our husbands, Bazz and Gary, while the girls were having their transplants. We hugged straight away and knew each other were going through the same thing. It made us feel less lonely.”

Andrea said: “It’s so special that the girls have each other. The friendship they made in hospital has had a massive impact.”

Dr Rossa Brugha, Consultant Lung Transplant Paediatrician and both Hollies clinician, said: “The Hollies are something of a miracle, and real superstars for the lung transplant team at GOSH. It’s incredibly rewarding to see them thrive together after their transplants.

“We have one of the largest paediatric heart and lung transplant programmes in the world, but this is only possible thanks to families who make the amazing decision to donate when they are going through the most difficult time. Every transplant is life-changing for a young person, the team and our transplant families are forever grateful to the families who make this life-saving decision.”

Sarah Plant, paediatric lead nurse at NHS Blood and Transplant, said: “It is amazing to hear both Hollies are doing so well after their life-saving transplants, and lovely to hear about their friendship.

“Thanks to two incredible organ donors and their families, both girls are here enjoying life, and have built a special bond. We urgently need everyone to decide about organ donation, including parents for their children – transplants can’t happen without organ donors.

“Register your decision on the Organ Donor Register and share it with your family, you could save someone’s life.”