'Ivanna's candle is flickering and we are fighting to keep it burning'

"Surgery in the USA is now Ivanna's only hope" - the heartbreaking words of the little four-year-old's dad Jack Potts after being told his daughter's only option in the UK is palliative care.

- by Neil Fatkin

Four-year-old Ivanna Potts in her Sunderland AFC shirt.

Ivanna, from Red House, was born with a severe form of congenital heart disease called hypoplastic right heart and heterotaxy syndrome. The condition means the right side of her heart is underdeveloped, preventing it from functioning correctly and allowing Ivanna to do many of the things other little girls her age enjoy.

Up to this point, Ivanna's condition had been managed by the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle.

However, the family had been trying to transfer her case to Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), in London - one of the world's leading children's hospitals - in the hope of finding a solution without having to leave the UK.

However, the family has now been told that GOSH cannot take on her case, meaning Ivanna has been "left in limbo" unless she can get the pioneering surgery at Boston Children's Hospital in the US.

In order to save their daughter's life, Ivanna's family has set up a GoFundMe page to raise the £250,000 to fly the little girl to the USA to undergo surgery and aftercare.

Jack, 28, said: "Boston is now Ivanna's only chance - there's no other option. We had believed that if we stayed in the UK, Ivanna would have the option of a Fontan procedure - a palliative operation that creates a single-ventricle circulation.

"However, doctors at GOSH and Boston have said this is too risky for Ivanna."

Jack still has hope for Ivanna's future thanks to a pioneering operation only available at Boston Children's Hospital.