Baby in urgent need of liver transplant

A FOUR-month-old baby girl needs a life-saving liver transplant, if she is to see her first birthday.

The little girl, Ieva Zukaskaute, from Rahoon in Co Galway, has already undergone two unsuccessful operations to correct her condition.

The infant suffers from biliary atresia, a rare disease that affects newborn babies.

Ieva, born on December 2 last, was diagnosed with the disease when she was six weeks old.

Her condition is not inherited, the cause is unknown and treatments are only partially successful.

Ieva’s Lithuanian parents, Christina and Andrew Zukaskaute, are planning to bring Ieva to Kings College Hospital in London next Friday where her condition will be assessed.

A surgeon specialising in treating biliary atresia at Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital in Crumlin, Dublin, has been treating her.

“We’ve spent the last two months living in hope with the two operations but we were told last week that they have not worked,” said Ieva’s godmother, Audrey Cassidy.

“Ieva already has cirrhosis of the liver and it is at a pretty advanced stage. We just have to do everything we can to help her,” she said.

The Zukaskaute family, who have lived in Galway for the past seven years, are appealing for help with travel and other costs.

“I love my little baby so very much and I pray every day for her transplant. She needs help and I am so afraid that she is going to die,” Ms Zukaskaute said.

The child’s mother works with Ms Cassidy and her mother, Louise Blade, at the Sewing Studio in Galway. “Ieva’s condition is at an advanced stage and, if not treated by specialists at King’s College Hospital in London, she could die within six months,” said Ms Cassidy.

“She is very jaundiced looking and sleeps a lot. She desperately needs this operation,” said Ms Cassidy.

The couple have an 11-year-old daughter, Laura, who is being cared for by her grandmother in Lithuania so her parents can devote all their time to caring for her little sister.

“We know it is a hard time now for everybody because of the economic situation but even a small donation would help a lot,” said Ms Cassidy.

There is an account opened for the Baby Ieva Fund at AIB Lynch’s Castle in Galway. It’s account number is 33233063 and branch number is 937096.