A MUM has set out to raise as much money as possible for the neonatal transport unit which kept her critically ill baby alive while he was trans- ferred between hospitals.

David MacDonald, three, was just one-day-old when he stopped breathing and went into cardiac arrest at Broomfield Hospital.

Mum Anna MacDonald, 38, had given birth by emergency caesarean due to pre-eclampsia and discharged herself to be with David after he was transferred, believing he would not survive.

She said: “David started grunting a little bit on his chest with his breath and he was taken to the neonatal unit.

“They said he will be back in a few hours, and a day later he started having convulsions.

“He stopped breathing and had a cardiac arrest. He was resuscitated and they got him back.”

Because David was so poorly, he was moved to Luton and Dunstable Hospital through the Acute Neonatal Transfer Service (ANTS), which has specialist medical staff and equipment on board.

Mrs MacDonald, of Black Notley, said: “They didn’t want me to go, but we thought he was going to die. I said if he’s going to die I want to be there with him.

“They gave us back our child, that’s how we look at it. It’s like a neonatal unit on wheels.

“David is fine now, he has problems with his eyesight, but he’s a very intelligent, happy little boy. They have no idea what caused it, they thought he might have had undiagnosed diabetes because I was never tested.”

A week later, David was well enough to return to Broomfield Hospital, again with ANTS, before he was allowed to go home for the first time.

David, who has six siblings — Rowan, 17, Nancy, 12, Kasey, 10, twins Bobby and Duncan, 7, and Christian, 1 — is back to full health, apart from some problems with his eyesight.

Mrs MacDonald is now looking to raise money for ANTS to say thank you and held an inflatable day at Black Notley Community Association Hall, where she volunteers, on Saturday.

The event raised £371.50.