Parents pray for transplant to save baby

Date Published: 18-Apr-2011

By Heather Mackey

The parents of a four months old baby girl from Rahoon who has a life-threatening illness are desperately hoping she can get the liver transplant she needs to survive.

Little Ieva Zukaskaute has already had two unsuccessful operations for Biliary atresia, an illness which is a blockage in the tubes (ducts) that carry liquid called bile from the liver to the gallbladder.

The condition is congenital, which means it is present from birth and was only noticed on baby Ieva when, at six weeks, she was still very jaundiced.

Baby Ieva’s illness is at an advanced stage and if not treated by specialists at Kings College Hospital in London, she could die within six months.

Biliary atresia occurs when the bile ducts inside or outside the liver do not develop normally. The bile ducts help remove waste from the liver and carry salts that help the small intestine break down fat.In babies with biliary atresia, bile flow from the liver to the gallbladder is blocked. This can lead to liver damage and cirrhosis of the liver, which is deadly if not treated.

“We’ve spent the last two months living on hope with the two operations but we were told last week that they have not worked, so now she needs a liver transplant, and were just doing what we can to help Ieva and her family,” said Ieva’s godmother, Audrey Cassidy.

Only one surgeon in Ireland deals with biliary atresia and he has carried out both of the recent operations at Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital Crumlin, but now baby Ieva needs to go to London on Friday of next week to wait for a liver transplant.

Christina and Andrew Zukaskaute are the Polish/Latvian parents of four month old Ieva. Christina has lived in Galway for seven years working in the Sewing Studio, Shop Street for most of that time.

The Zukaskaute Family are appealing to the people of Galway to help raise much needed funds for medical management including a trip to the UK next week.

If you wish to pledge a donation to the Baby Ieva Fund, you can do so at AIB Lynches Castle – a/c no: 33233063 branch no: 937096.

Read more in today’s Connacht Sentinel