A life saving transplant can cost the NHS more than £1m, leading to calls for better education about organ donation in schools.

Mini marvel Beatrix Adamson-Archbold spent almost 15 months in hospital as she waited for her heart transplant. Now thriving at four years old, she is a testament to the miracle of organ donation.

But her dad Terry Archbold told of the extraordinary costs to the NHS for her care prior to the op in June 2023 at the Freeman Hospital, Newcastle. Beatrix spent 30 days in paediatric intensive care, at a cost of £2800 per day, a total bill of £84,000.

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There were also 425 days in the high dependency unit at an average of £1800 per day, which comes to £765,000. The Berlin Heart device fitted to keep her alive prior to the op costs up to £120,000 in the UK.

The estimated bill for the transplant operation itself is £36,000 for staff and theatre time. And replacement Berlin Heart ventricles throughout Beatrix's stay in hospital cost in excess of £40,000, a bill of more than £1m.

Durham police officer Terry, 47, believes school lessons about organ donation for children of all ages would raise awareness, increase the number of donors and reduce the cost burden on the NHS.

He said: "You add up the cost of all the equipment, time on the high dependency unit, the time of the nurses and doctors and surgeons, and it comes to more than £1m.

"The bottom line is that, if we carry on on the trajectory that this country is on, then the waiting list for donations grows month by month.

"We will have situations where there is no capacity for adults and children. And more lives will be lost. And that terrifies me."

Terry, of Burnopfield, Co Durham, added: "I have been into schools and the kids are so receptive to the idea of donation.

"The questions and the insight, it was amazing to see their grasp and their compassion. School lessons work in Canada and Greece and they are starting to teach these lessons in Northern Ireland."

He gave the example of Kayleigh Llewellyn, 18, of Seaham, Co Durham, who is going to train a paramedic.

The Mirror campaigned to change the organ donor law in England and told how Kayleigh's life was saved by a heart donor in 2019.

Terry added: "Fast forward 30 years. Kaylee is a qualified paramedic. A single act of donation by her donor has saved not just her life, but the hundreds of lives saved by Kayleigh every day in her job.

"Every single patient, every person she saves can be traced back to the moment that her donor family decided to save her life. All thanks to one selfless act of organ donation. It is absolutely mind blowing."

Terry and Beatrix's mum Cheryl Adamson, 42, a council worker, have seen both sides of the transplant journey. In 2018, they lost their daughter Isabel (c) when she was stillborn and they donated her heart for medical research.

Terry has written to the Prime Minister calling on the Government to make organ donation a statutory part of the National Curriculum. He is being supported in his crusade by Sergio Petrucci, who won a Pride of Britain award for his work with the Red Sky Foundation, and Orgamites, the group which teaches about organ donation in schools.

The Government is considering an independent review on the national curriculum with Professor Becky Francis and her expert panel giving their recommendations.

*Visit the NHS Organ Donor Register at www.organdonation.nhs.uk