An artificial heart device kept a toddler alive for a record time and this led to a transplant.

The toddler’s name was Joe Skerratt and he is just three years old and he now looks healthy after he was given a new heart.

He was on the transplant list at the Great Ormond Street, London, and for about 251 days he was kept alive on a device, called a Berlin Heart.

Barth syndrome is a rare genetic disease and it affects about 100 people across the world and Joe is unfortunate to have it.

It means that his heart was very big in size and its functioning was not proper. His heart has stopped about three times in the number of years that he has lived and he had to be resuscitated.

The Berlin heart that saved him weighs about 15 kg and it looks like a chest freezer. Its work is to support the work of the heart and for children who want a heart transplant and are waiting; it acts as a life-saving bridging device.

Joe’s parents Mark Skerratt and Rachel Farrow are grateful to the hospital and are urging people to join the NHS organ donor register.