Belfast tot needs new heart to stay alive
A west Belfast family are urging people to sign up as organ donors, knowing how critical it can be as their one-year-old son needs a new heart to stay alive.
Little Dáithí was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, which means the left side of his heart did not develop properly.
His parents, Seph Ní Mhealláin and Máirtín Mac Gabhann, were told their son had the condition at their 20-week scan.
“No parents wants to think of the unthinkable,” Dáith’s dad told UTV.
“So it is a very difficult position for us to ask parents to put their children on the register, because no one wants to think of the unthinkable.”
At just four days old, Dáithí had to have open-heart surgery – a procedure that doctors thought he would not survive.
But the little boy fought for life.
Now Dáithí’s mum and dad hope the life-changing gift of a new heart can be found for their son.
“I was told before he was born that I wouldn’t be able to hold him,” his mum said.
“But I was – and it was maybe only 10 seconds, but it was the best 10 seconds of my life.”
There are around 150 to 200 people on the transplant waiting list in Northern Ireland.
Becoming a donor after your death could save the lives of up to seven people.
For more information or to become an organ donor