Eight babies a week born with heart defects in the East of England

It's been revealed that eight babies a week are born with heart defects in the East of England.

Seven year old Lucy Bluett from Bury St Edmunds was one of those and she has had to undergo major open heart surgery - and it's likely she will have to have more operations as she gets older.

The British Heart Foundation says much more research needs to be done into heart defects and they have launched a campaign encouraging people to raise money.

Their 'Bag It. Beat It.' campaign, wants everyone to donate unwanted goods and take it to their local branch.

Previous breakthroughs have already contributed to an 80% fall in the number of children dying from these defects in the last 30 years, but there's still more to be done.

Sadly Lucy is by no means alone. 3,000 children have a heart defect in the East of England and a child born with congenital heart disease is likely to have had two operations by the age of 14.

You can find out more about 'Bag it. Beat it.' and how you can help here