TINY Ebony Johnson is facing a huge operation to receive a new heart but the surgery has had to be put on hold.

The seven-month-old suffers from cardiomyopathy, which means her heart does not pump blood as quickly as it should, but the problem is made worse by antibodies she contracted from her mother Sonya during pregnancy.

Sonya, of Taylor Avenue, Waterfoot, explained: "Usually the antibodies go at three months but the heart scans show they are still there.

"If she had a transplant now they would probably attack the new heart and cause it not to function correctly."

Regulars at the Newhall Social Club, Rawtenstall, held a charity event to raise money for the youngster's family to help with travelling costs.

Sonya said: "I have had to give up my job as a machinist to look after Ebony full time. It is not fair to ask a child minder to look after her when she is so ill. She is on constant medication and last week was so poorly she had be be given oxygen.

"We are just playing a waiting game, first for the antibodies to clear up and then a new heart to become available and that could take months to find an exact match."

It was when Sonya was having a scan at 37 weeks that doctors realised there was a heart problem with Ebony and carried out an emergency Caesarean.

After time in intensive care she was allowed home, but then she contracted a chest infection and at just six weeks old was fitted with a pace maker at Alder Hey Hospital, Liverpool.

Now she makes regular visits to Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, Pendlebury, and when the antibodies are clear and a donor heart is found she will have the operation at Great Ormond Street in London. Sonya and husband Shaun also have an eight-year-old daughter, Leoni. She has been checked for the same condition and is clear but Sonya has a heart murmur and the presence of the antibodies has caused her severe arthritis and depression.

At the social club, regulars dug deep to raise money for the family joining in a variety of games, children had their faces painted and one daring twin, Nicola Prince, had her hair shaved.

The 21-year-old from Hall Carr toured Rawtenstall pubs having pieces of hair snipped for a price and then had the lot shaved by her twin brother Andrew at the club.

Stewardess Tina Shepherd said: "We had five artistes and a disco in the evening and a tombola with prizes donated by local businesses. We hope to have raised about £1,000."

Baby Ebony returns to Manchester tomorrow for another check-up to see if the antibodies have cleared.

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