Beth's Heartfelt Poem Is A Winner!
In a celebrity-obsessed world it is refreshing to discover just who young Beth Jordan counts among her heroes.
The 11-year-old from Little London, Tadley, Hampshire, didn't automatically pick a pin-up from the world of pop, or an iconic figure from sporting circles - but instead chose her life-saving heart surgeon. Beth composed a poem about Mr Marcus Haw, a consultant cardiac surgeon at the Wessex Cardiac Centre, where she has undergone three major heart operations.
Now her verse entitled "No One Famous" has been chosen from 35,000 entries from all over the UK and overseas in a poetry competition. This month her work is due to be published in "Poetry Explorers - poems from Hampshire", as part of the 19th annual Young Writers' Poetry Competition.
Beth became the youngest-ever patient to have an artificial mitral valve fitted at Southampton General Hospital back in 1998 when she underwent emergency open-heart surgery at the age of 11 weeks. When she was three years old she had a second mitral valve replacement and has also had an aortic valve repair. Her last operation was at the age of eight when she had a repair of her aortic stenosis, but she faces further heart surgery in her teens. She has to return to Southampton for twice-yearly check-ups and is under the care of Mr Haw, who specialises in paediatrics and is passionate about improving longer-term prognoses for the young patients he treats.
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She has a wonderful relationship with the team at the Wessex Cardiac Centre, and has come to trust them absolutely", said her mother Christina. "Beth's a very feisty girl who can't do contact sports and gets tired easily and has to be on blood-thinning drugs for the rest of her life. But she's also a bit of an adrenalin junkie and she likes bungee trampolining and speed!" added Christina. "She doesn't like limitations and she was frustrated at having to miss part of her schooling, but she has seen the benefit of having had the operations", she added.
Beth, a year 6 pupil of Daneshill School, Stratfield Turgis, lives with her parents Steve and Christina, and her 14-year-old sister Eloise.
The Jordan family is backing a new Wessex Heartbeat Charity appeal which aims to raise £1.2 million to provide a purpose-built 23-bed Young Adults Cardiac Unit at Southampton General Hospital.
To help kickstart the appeal, which is due to be officially launched later this summer, Mr Haw along with his consultant cardiologist colleague Dr Tony Salmon, undertook a gruelling 107-mile sponsored cycle ride from Montelimiar in Provence, France to the summit of Mont Ventoux on June 17.
Anyone who is still interested in sponsoring them can donate online by visiting www.justgiving.com/tonyandmarcus
Update
Beth has recently appeared on the television and local radio to help promote the Young Adults Cardiac Unit Appeal. Her appearances have included 2 interviews with GMTV, live radio interview with BBC Radio Solent and a radio interview with Heart Radio Berkshire. She has also appeared in The Mirror and This is Hampshire.
