Bethany fights for life after transplant

Bethany Dawson's parents Nikki and Tim are keeping a bedside vigil with their daughter at Birmingham Children's Hospital as she fights for survival. The couple, from Cannock, have been living at the hospital throughout the Christmas holidays after hopes of a straightforward transplant were dashed.

After a 12-hour mammoth operation by two teams of doctors, on December 16, complications have seen 18-month-old Bethany endure five operations since then with three on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Now her extended family, friends and more than 150,000 well-wishers from around the globe who have tracked her story via internet site Facebook are holding their breath and crossing their fingers.

Bethany was born with a rare condition known as gastroschisis which means her bowels and liver were on the outside of her body.

Despite efforts to repair the problems her own organs were damaged and she needed a new bowel and liver to survive. Her other organs had grown, filling the space where her bowel and liver should have been.

She underwent surgery to make space for the transplanted organs as well as to fix a hole in her bowel.

And because the bowel that doctors put in became swollen, they have had to leave her wounds open to allow that swelling to go down.

Her parents started a campaign to raise awareness of the need for blood and organ donors earlier this year and their story has attracted coverage from American TV, national newspapers and magazines.

Bethany's grandmother Wendy Summer, of South Close, Cannock said the last two weeks had been difficult. She said: "We have kept it quiet because it is a bit touch and go really. Bethany is in intensive care and isolated, only Nikki and Tim can see her. She really is fighting for her life."

She added: "We would like to say a big thank you to everyone for their support and good wishes and we would ask the whole of Cannock to cross their fingers for Bethany."