ENGLISH NEWS: Baby desperately needs new heart months after his dad receives transplant in England

LITTLE Ethan Eaves is only nine-months-old and is getting ready to spend his first ever Christmas in hospital as his family anxiously wait for a heart donor.

Ethan is one of 38 children across the UK waiting for a call that a heart has been found for them. It is however particularly difficult to find organs to help small children, as they need a heart that is the correct size for their frame.

This isn’t the first life-or-death wait the Luton-based family have faced, as Ethan’s father Richard underwent a heart transplant in January of this year, and desperately hopes that his son can find a donor too.

Speaking to the MetroUK, Ethan’s mum Roselelia described her mixed emotions on the heart-breaking subject as she knows without a heart her baby will die, but for Ethan to live another child will also face the same fate.

To keep a sense of normality, the family are trying to keep a routine for baby Ethan, concentrating on small milestones to make every moment of his short life that extra bit special.

With Christmas just around the corner, it is an incredibly challenging time for the mother-of-three, made worse by not having her baby at home. To ease the pain, Ethan’s family plan to decorate his hospital bed with his favourite festive decorations and no presents will be opened until they arrive at hospital on Christmas Day.

Roselelia says finding a suitable transplant for her baby would be the perfect end to 2019, but she has had the hard conversation with her two young daughters, who are with Ethan every step of the way, about the worst case scenario.

She says everyday she wakes hoping to get a call for Ethan – “as he is our world and all we want is for him to live.”

Roselelia urges everyone to take a moment to think about the people who will spend Christmas hoping for just one thing; a lifesaving organ transplant, and asks that they let their family know what their organ donation decision is.

As Euro Weekly News understand, according to NHS Blood and Transplant, 180 children in the UK are waiting for a life-saving organ transplant and a further 6,000 adults join them on the waiting list.

If you would like to become a donor, visit www.organdonation.nhs.uk.