A 23-day-old Irish baby, who was awaiting a liver transplant, died at King's College Hospital, London, on Thursday, the hospital confirmed yesterday.
Maebh Bradley was born with a rare genetic condition, haemachromotosis, which causes large amounts of iron to be deposited in the liver and results in liver failure. Her parents, Mr Tommy Bradley, and his wife, Marie, from Kells, Co Meath, were with their daughter when she died on Thursday night. The Bradleys lost two other children to the condition.
In a statement released by the hospital, the couple expressed their thanks to medical staff and to people around the world who had offered their support. "We didn't get what we wanted, but we would like to emphasise how important it is for people to donate organs for transplant. There are other children waiting for transplants who are just as needy and deserving as Maebh was."
A family friend, Ms Iris Dean, said the couple had no doubt that the shortage of organs, which contributed to Maebh's death, was due to the organ scandal at Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool.