Seven more like Carter
NEWBORN IS ONE OF EIGHT WAITING FOR TRANSPLANT
BABY Carter Cookson is one of eight babies desperately waiting for a life-saving heart transplant in the UK. Carter suffered three cardiac arrests after he was born on Boxing Day and had to undergo an operation to drain one side of his heart and attach a pacemaker. But parents Sarah and Chris Cookson, of South Shields, were given the heartbreaking news the operation was not successful and the tot will need a heart transplant within weeks to save his life.
The youngster is currently attached to a special machine at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital, which is pumping blood around his body, but he can only stay on it for up to eight weeks.
NHS Blood and Transplant, which is responsible for matching and allocating donated organs in the UK, say there are eight babies under 24 months on the active waiting list for a heart.
It says there are a lot of complex factors involved in allocating and matching hearts for transplant but one of the most crucial for babies and children is size.
Angie Scales, lead nurse for paediatric donation at NHS Blood and Transplant, said: “We hope Carter gets the heart transplant he so desperately needs.
“Hearts need to be matched by size for a successful transplant. For many young children, their only hope is to receive a heart from another young child.
“Losing a child is a terrible tragedy, but we know many parents take comfort in being able to save lives through organ donation.”
Carter has been on the machine that is pumping blood around his body for two weeks and every day he stays on it there is a greater chance of complications.
Sarah, 44, and Chris, 40, who tragically lost their first son Charlie when he was two, issued an urgent plea in the hope of finding a new heart.
Ms Scales added: “There are many children alive today thanks to parents making the decision to donate when saying goodbye to their own child.
“But sadly, hundreds of adults and children die every year due to the shortage of donated organs.
“We urge people to join the NHS Donor Register and tell their loved ones they want to become a donor.”