Couple appeal for transplant donor for unborn baby

An English couple have launched an appeal for a new heart - and possibly lungs - for their unborn baby.

Cathy and Mark Proctor, from Surrey, are hoping that a suitable donor will be found to help them save their unborn baby girl.

The baby - diagnosed as having a major heart defect at a 20-week scan - could become the youngest human being in Britain to undergo a heart transplant.

A transplant is one of several options being explored by the Royal Brompton Hospital in London.

"I won't give up hope until there is no hope left," said Mrs Proctor, from Carshalton, Surrey, who is eight months pregnant. "I will keep hoping and keep my fingers crossed."

Mr Proctor says the baby, expected to be born early in February, will need a heart and possibly lungs. Surgeons have launched a Europe-wide search for a suitable donor, he said.

A Royal Brompton Hospital spokeswoman said: "The child has heart abnormalities and we know that the baby will require heart surgery after birth, but there are several options and it is not possible to decide for the best until the baby is born. "

Mr and Mrs Proctor are expecting the baby on February 23 and have already appealed in their local newspaper for a suitable transplant donor.

Half of the baby's heart is undeveloped, and it has a leaking valve and one artery which emerges in the wrong way.

The couple already have a five-year-old daughter called Alanna.