BRING ME A NEW HEART, SANTA

THE only thing three-year-old Daithi Macgabhann wants from Santa this year is a new heart.

The little boy is one of almost 200 children in the UK in need of a life-saving transplant.

The NHS revealed the figures as part of its Christmas campaign to get more people to sign up to the Organ Donor Register.

Daithi, from Belfast, was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, which effectively left him with just half a heart.

Around 250 babies in the UK are diagnosed with the condition each year, the British Heart Foundation says.

During the first ten days of his life Daithi went through multiple rounds of open-heart surgery to improve his condition and extend his life, though only by months.

At one point his parents Mairtin, who teaches Irish, and Seph, who is training to be a paediatric nurse, were given an awful decision by doctors.

Mr Macgabhann said: “The surgeon said surgery had little chance of working and we were given the option to stop treatment. At that point Dai opened his eyes and stared at the surgeon, even though he was on life support and heavily sedated.

“He is unbelievable now, he has started preschool. He is very active – we have to stop him when his lips go blue.

“I asked him, ‘Dai, what is Santa bringing you for Christmas?’ and he said: ‘A new heart’.”

Over the past 10 years the number of adult organ donors has doubled from around 800 in 20078 to 1,600 last year.

But the number of child donors has stayed at fewer than 60.

Liz Armstrong, head of Transplant Development at NHS Blood and Transplant, said: “As we approach Christmas, we have 185 children waiting for an organ transplant.

“By saying yes to organ donation, families are in a position to give another family hope.”

See organdonation.nhs.uk.