5 weeks to save Carter
Final push for life law Baby needs heart transplant to survive
SUPPORT Max Johnson THE Government is ready for one last push to bring in the opt-out donor legislation championed by the Daily Mirror.
Max and Keira’s Law, named in honour of Max Johnson, 10, and his nineyear-old heart donor CAMPAIGN In Mirror Keira Ball, is due to be introduced this year.
Two amendments mean it will go to the Lords again within weeks.
Health Minister Jackie Doyle-Price said: “I am four-square behind this.
“I am not going to let anything stand in its way.” MEDICS are facing a race against time to find a new heart to save a baby’s life.
Carter Cookson had three cardiac arrests within hours of being born on Boxing Day.
A machine now pumps his blood, but doctors fear it may only keep him alive for five weeks as there is a risk of clotting and internal bleeding.
Parents Sarah and Chris’s first son Charlie, two, died in 2013 from illnesses unrelated to Carter’s condition.
They can now only hope a heart becomes available for a transplant to save Carter.
Sarah, 44, said: “We need a heart in five weeks or we will lose our beautiful baby boy. I can’t put into words how heartbroken we all are.”
Thousands of people have sent messages of support at #findaheartforcarter.
Sarah, of South Shields, Tyneside, said: “He has so much will to be here. Please keep your prayers going.”
Anthony Clarkson, of NHS Blood and Transplant, said 41 children were waiting for a heart and for many their “only hope” was one from another child.
He said: “Losing a child is a terrible tragedy, but we know many
Sarah and Chris with Charlie parents take comfort in being able to save lives by agreeing to organ donation.”
The Mirror has fought for an opt-out donor system to make more organs available. Sarah and Chris, 40, set up The Charlie Cookson Foundation charity after Charlie died. As Carter clings to life at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle, Chris said: “To face it a second time, this is absolutely killer. We have to stay strong for Carter.” And Sarah added: “The pain is suffocating.”