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Sonny’s parents decided to donate his organs to a baby in desperate need of a heart transplant.
A Scottish baby has been hailed as a “superhero” after he saved a little girl in London by donating his heart after her tragic death.
Sonny Plenderleith was rushed to A&E aged 14 months after developing a rash and a temperature at home in March 2024.
He was taken to the pediatric intensive care unit at Glasgow Children’s Hospital, where he was treated for invasive pneumococcal disease. Unfortunately, he died two days later after the infection spread to his brain.
Parents Caroline Winn and Neil Plenderleith, both aged 46, decided to donate Sonny’s organs to help prevent someone from experiencing a similar heart attack to theirs. A little girl in London received Sonny’s heart and an elderly lady received his kidney.
Caroline, who is originally from Glenrothes, told the Record: “Sonny is a superhero. I’m so proud of him for saving a little girl’s life. That’s his legacy. The transplant team told us there was a four-month-old baby waiting for a heart transplant who never left Great Ormond Street Hospital because she wouldn’t have survived without the transplant. I didn’t survive.
“We knew we had to give Sonny his heart. We wanted our terrible experience to have a positive outcome. Knowing that his heart continued to beat even though he was not alive was tragic and special. We turned our despair into hope.”
Medics initially suspected that Sonny had a viral or respiratory tract infection, but he was later treated for pneumococcal disease, caused by the bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae. The condition can range in severity from ear and sinus infections to pneumonia and bloodstream infections – and its most severe forms can cause sepsis.
The deceased initially showed signs of recovery, but his condition suddenly deteriorated and he was placed in an induced coma. He died two days later after suffering from cerebral edema; his brain becomes inflamed.
Sonny’s parents wrote the baby’s family a few months later and they wrote back to express their gratitude. The organ donation team later told the couple that Sonny was the youngest organ donor in Scotland at the time.
The family also received The Order of St John UK Award for Organ Donation – a national honor recognizing posthumously deceased organ and tissue donors and their families for their life-saving gifts.
Caroline said: “The family said we had given their daughter a second chance at life that they didn’t think she would have.
“We don’t know the details of her condition but she urgently needed the transplant and her parents would have been desperate. I believe she had a sibling. We were going through the worst time of our lives for various reasons.
“We were aware that the parents had a very sick baby at home and we were devastated and saddened. We may write to them again in the future.
“Sonny was a happy, smiley, charismatic boy. Nothing makes us feel okay again and we can’t think about it every day, but it’s important for us to know that a part of him lives on. We don’t want people to forget him.”
Caroline also issued an urgent plea for people to consider organ donation.
She said: “I understand how difficult it is to leave your baby in the hospital and pass them on to a transplant team. But knowing that they will not survive, but you have the chance to save another baby’s life, is comforting.”
To donate to Caroline’s fundraiser for Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity, click here.
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