A MOTHER whose baby daughter's brain was taken after she died is now turning her energies to helping other families in the area affected by the organ retention scandal.

Fiona Chilton, 27, of Acomb, York, has become the York area co-ordinator for the National Committee Relating To Organ Retention.

The committee was set up as a support network in the wake of the Alder Hey scandal more than two years ago.

This year, after an anxious wait, Fiona discovered her premature daughter's brain was destroyed after it was removed at York District Hospital and sent to Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. Only blocks and slides remain.

Now she wants to help other families in her situation and link them up to a national support network.

She said: "There has been no support for me as I've been dealing with my grief again for my baby Emma.

"I grieved eight years ago and I'm grieving again.

"But now I know that I'm not alone and that there is an organisation that people can reach out to. I want families to know that I exist and that I am representing this organisation in this area. Some people need help, some don't, but we all at least need that choice."

Fiona herself is now facing some tough decisions about what to do about the blocks and slides of her baby and is seeking advice on how best to deal with what she describes as a "tragedy".

She said: "I am very angry about what's happened to me and my baby. I will never forgive whoever it was that got rid of my baby's brain. But by reaching out to other families we can support one another."

Fiona is also seeking legal action through Bristol-based solicitors who are representing 1,200 families nationwide caught up in the organ retention scandal within the NHS following Alder Hey.

To contact Fiona about organ retention call 07947 183754.

Updated: 11:47 Monday, March 25, 2002