DOCTORS are fighting to save the life of a seven-month-old baby.

Just eight days after his birth, doctors diagnosed Louis Simm with a rare form of cancer.

A malignant tumour has wrapped itself around his liver, and his parents will find out next week if he will undergo a life-saving operation.

Mother Valerie, 40, has asked people to donate blood to help her son, and others like him, have vital surgery.

Father, Brian Simm, who lives in Gateshead with wife Valerie, and four-year-old daughter, Lucy, said: "We were devastated when we heard that Louis had a malignant cancer called a hepablastoma."

Louis was immediately given chemotherapy and put on a drugs course.

The family now care for him at home and devote all their time to making his life as normal as possible.

At the moment the cancer has shrunk from a five-inch ball to a much smaller mass.

The operation will be long and difficult, but a team of highly skilled surgeons will attempt to remove the growth.

Mrs Simm said: "It is unfair that this is happening to him. He looks just like any little boy his age, but he is very poorly inside."