A baby from alicante,just 8 months old was either born with a liver tumour or developed it after her birth .Without transplant surgery in a Valencia hospital the little girl would have died .Her life was saved by her own mother ,who turned out to be a match as a donor.The operation took 10 hours and took place at La Fe hospital.This is the first operation to be carried out at the hospital using a live donor.The baby had already had some chemotherapy.The father was not a match for the transplant but the mother donated a quarter of her liver to save her daughter.

The mother ,who is also a doctor, is recovering well from her operation .There is a minimal risk in having this operation .However the child had a serious risk of the cancer spreading and if that had happened  then the transplant could not have taken place.Doctors at La Fe are pleased with the progress of bth mother and daughterand they should both be returning home soon.Because the DNA match is so good there is little likelihood of rejection by the child and the liver of the mother will regenerate.