Baby in need of heart donor is 'fighting for his life' in Newcastle intensive care

• Watch Tom Barton's report.

The mother of a baby boy in desperate need of a heart donor says her son is "fighting for his life".

George Wathey is just a few weeks old and is being cared for in the paediatric intensive care unit at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital because his heart has failed.

He may not survive more than the next few days or weeks without a heart transplant.

His mother Emma told ITV Tyne Tees: "They told us it was rare to get a heart of George's size. They don't get them often. You're clinging on to every bit of hope that you can, but also knowing that the reality could be something completely different".

In the run-up to – and after George’s birth - there had been no indication he had heart problems. He was born weighing 7lbs 12oz and returned home to Teesside.

But after just nine days at home, Emma found George 'grey' and lifeless in his Moses basket.

In the North East and Yorkshire there are 25 children currently waiting for an organ transplant.

More than 230 children in the UK are waiting for an organ transplant - 45 of them need a heart.

For George to get a new heart, another parent would have to go through their own personal tragedy.

Emma said: “If the day comes, it’s a pure selfless act to save others – one I would be forever grateful for.

“It’s been just me and George right from the beginning, we’ve had a difficult journey right from the start but we got through it together.

"He is my best friend and I thought we had the rest of our lives together, I can’t imagine my life without my little boy and having to say goodbye after such a short amount of time together.”

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