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When nine-year old Keira suffers catastrophic injuries in a car accident, her devastated family agree that she would have wanted to be an organ donor. Meanwhile in another part of the country Max has been hospitalised for almost a year with a virus that is causing his young heart to fail. When Max's parents receive the call they've been longing for, they know it comes at unimaginable cost to another family.

Dr Rachel Clarke follows the journey of the heart from Keira to Max with compassion and clarity in a book long-listed for the Baillie Gifford Prize. Exploring the history of the medical innovations in transplantation that led us here, she meets some of the physicians, nurses, scientists and surgeons whose knowledge and dedication make this remarkable procedure possible.

The NHS team are about to begin the complex operation which will change Max’s life – but first, they take a moment to remember Keira and give thanks for the selfless decision her family have made.

Written and read by Rachel Clarke
Abridged by Clara Glynn
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie