A teenage girl whose heart stopped three times owes her life to a miracle operation and the work of a little known Oxfordshire charity, her mother said last night.

Sophi Barton, 16, from Steeple Aston, near Bicester, was admitted to Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital with suspected meningitis.

However, an infection – which caused a huge abscess to grow inside her heart – stopped it beating three times and surgeons were forced to carry out a rare, emergency procedure with an artificial heart pump.

Each time Sophi’s heart stopped, Prof Stephen West- aby attempted to repair the arteries and wall of her heart using conventional methods.

But when the abscess burst causing a third cardiac arrest, Prof Westaby hooked the Oxford High School pupil up to a temporary artificial heart pump for 12 days in the hope the muscle would repair itself – and it did.

However, after the operation, which took several hours, Sophi suffered a stroke and a collapsed lung, keeping her in hospital for longer than expected. She is now recovering at home.

From her sick bed last night Sophi, who is expected to make a full recovery, said: “I’m extremely grateful to Prof Westaby.

“I had no idea I could have died, and I don’t remember very much of it at all. It’s quite hard work and a bit frustrating, but I’m looking forward to being able to go running and walking again.”

The equipment for the operation cost £15,000 and was paid for by Abingdon-based charity Young Hearts.

Sophi’s mother Dr Fiona Spensley, a senior tutor at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University, said: “What Prof Westaby has done with this heart pump is miraculous, it’s just science fiction.

“If she had been anywhere else in the country, or with any other surgeon, she would have died.

“It would have destroyed our lives to have lost Sophi.

“I want this technology to be available to other people.”

The youngster, who has an older sister, Lucy, 17, is having to learn to read again and cannot yet walk.

She would have taken her GCSEs this year, but will take a year off and go straight into the sixth form in 2010.

Prof Westaby said: “It was quite clear we could not save her by a conventional operation so I put in an external temporary artificial heart to empty the left side of her heart and take the pressure away to allow it to heal.

“Without it, we would have lost her very rapidly.”

The treatment is preferable to a transplant, which carries higher risks and leaves the patient dependent on drugs. There is also a shortage of organs.

It was the fourth time Prof Westaby had used the pump, which can be reused with new disposable parts.

He said: “I would like to see them available on the NHS.

“The disposable parts cost between £2,500 and £3,000 — but £3,000 for the life of a child isn't excessive.”

fbardsley@oxfordmail.co.uk