THE parents of a desperately-ill baby have had their prayers answered after he underwent a life-saving double transplant.

One-year-old Ethan Collins received a new liver and intestine to bring to end his parents’ agonising wait for a donor.

His condition last night was described as “stable”.

Ethan, who last year was only given weeks to live, is recovering in intensive care after undergoing 10 hours of surgery at Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

His parents, Stuart Collins and Donna Browne, are keeping a bedside vigil.

Ethan’s plight was featured recently in the newspaper when an appeal was published for more people to sign up to the organ donor register.

And the youngster has family across Bolton who have been in training for the Bupa Manchester 10k run on May 17 to raise money for the Live Life Then Give Life charity and raise awareness of being an organ donor.

Ethan even has an online fundraising page, carrying a message in his name: “I’m still quite poorly and will have to stay in the intensive care unit for a few more weeks.

“I want to say thank you to each and everyone who has donated and shown their support.

“But more than anything, I want to say the biggest thank you to the very brave family who, even though they must have been very sad, gave me my new organs.

“I will look after them and I will never forget how lucky I am to have them.”

Yesterday, Stuart and Donna said it was still early days following the transplant.

They added: “We are really concentrating on Ethan getting better.

“We are so grateful for the people who have made this possible at what must be a very difficult time for them. We are incredibly grateful that someone has given that wonderful gift.”

Baby Ethan, of Whitefield, was born a month prematurely with most of his intestines outside his body and virtually all of his young life has been spent at Booth Hall Children's Hospital in Manchester.