A girl who became one of the world's youngest heart transplant patients has died.

Rosie England went on to lead a normal life after she underwent an operation at the age of two until suffering a heart attack last month. Her mother, Moira, said Rosie, 14, had always been happy and laughing and paid tribute by asking guests not to wear black at her funeral today.

Mrs England, from Brighton, said she wants the service to be a celebration of her daughter's life instead of an upsetting experience for her friends at Dorothy Stringer School.

She added: "Rosie was a very caring, very funny youngster. She liked to

have fun and laughed all the time. Like so many people who have survived a serious illness, she was in tune with other people and could empathise with them. People came and talked to her and she had a lot of friends."

Rosie, her older brother Simon, 16, and younger brother Jeremy, ten, loved music and played the cello. She dreamed of being an interior designer when she left school. Mrs England said: "She was a remarkable person, very mature for her age and also still very childlike. She made an impact on people. Even those she didn't know said they noticed her in a crowd, and her friends are missing her dreadfully."

Rosie had been on the waiting list for a year when she was given a new heart by the surgeon Sir Magdi Yacoub at Harefield Hospital in 1987.

After the operation she changed almost instantly from a listless baby into a happy, active child. She went on to lead a full life despite having to return to the hospital every six months for check-ups for the rest of her life and take a daily cocktail of tablets.

Mrs England said Rosie was given the gift of life she might not have had by the family who agreed to donate their child's heart, and however short her life she made the most of it.

Mrs England said: "I am so grateful to have had Rosie for the 14 years we did."

Rosie's funeral takes place at St John's Church, Preston, Brighton.

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