Bridget Slater returned to her idyllic cottage home in the Yorkshire Dales to find her washing machine had packed in.

Six weeks ago her daughter Sally was at death's door, desperately in need of a new heart.

But yesterday, as the plucky six-year-old played on her brothers' Scalextric, Bridget was ringing round to find a repair man.

This was back to reality with a bump - but still such a great feeling.

"It's so wonderful to be home again - I've only been back twice in nine weeks," she said.

She and husband, Jon, both 36, stayed at Sally's side throughout the ordeal, while their sons Charlie, three, and Joe, five, were looked after by relatives at their home in Kirby Malham near Skipton.

Sally, a pupil at Kirby Malham School, was struck down with a virus which destroyed the muscles in her heart.

She was rushed to Freeman Hospital in Newcastle where her life hung in the balance. An artificial heart was keeping her alive, but doctors feared she only had hours to live.

Miraculously, a donor was found and Sally was taken into theatre to undergo seven hours of surgery to give her a new heart.

She was kept in isolation - only her mum and dad could see her -- and her grandparents could only look on anxiously from outside the ward.

Sally, who looks fit and well but needs to use a wheelchair for the time being, has lost weight and her feet are still sore because of early circulation problems. But she is eating with relish and everyday walks a bit further with the help of her parents.

Bridget, who lectures in travel and tourism at Skipton's Craven College, hopes her daughter may be able to return to school after about six weeks.

"Sally still can't go near crowds for another six weeks. She is on high dosage anti-rejection drugs for 12 weeks after the operation, so we must keep her away from as many people as possible.

"But she no longer needs physiotherapy and we walk with her everyday.

"And we have to visit Freeman hospital once a week to have her blood checked."

The couple have been in contact with the donor's family through the hospital's transplant co-ordinator and the two families have corresponded.

"We will keep in contact, but we're not prepared to reveal their identity - that wouldn't be fair," said Bridget.

Sally's gran, Barabara, is now planning a ten-mile sponsored walk from her Threshfield home to Kirby Malham to raise money for Freeman Hospital Children's Heart Unit Fund, which paid for the £40,000 artificial heart that kept Sally alive while the hunt was on for a donor.

"The artificial heart can only be used once. We're so grateful to the fund and this is a way of expressing our gratitude," said Barbara.

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