A DETERMINED grandad has been busy raising money for the hospital that saved his granddaughter's life - despite desperately waiting for his second kidney transplant.

Andrew Halsted, 43, of Rising Bridge, has to go on dialysis four times a day while he waits for a suitable donor after suffering renal failure.

But it has not stopped him raising money for Birmingham Children's Hospital, where Esther had a lifesaving heart operation when she was just three days old.

Andrew has restored an old train engine, which he has been letting children play on for a donation, and recently handed over £80 to the specialist hospital

Two-year-old Esther has already undergone a second heart operation and will face another when she gets to four or five, eventually needing a transplant.

The tot, who lives with Andrew and her mum Sarah Halstead, 21, suffers from hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a rare condition which effectively means the right side of her heart does all the work.

And no-one is more sympathetic to her plight than Andrew, a steeplejack and clock repairer, who has suffered with his own health ever since being diagnosed as a diabetic when he was 14.

He had his first kidney transplant 11 years ago and received a transplanted pancreas four years ago.

He said he would be forever grateful for the new organs which had enabled him to see his family grow and given him the chance to spend time with his special granddaughter.

His condition is now so bad that he is constantly in and out of hospital.

He said: "I have lost loads of weight in the last couple of years and have gone down to about nine stone. I am still fixing people's clocks but I have had to give up steeplejacking."

Although Andrew has been on the transplant list for 18 months, no match has been found so far and doctors are now screening Sarah and his partner Debi Hacking to see if either is suitable to become a live donor.

Sarah said: "I think it would be a remarkable thing to do to extend someone's life. We are just waiting for the results of the blood tests, which should be coming soon."

Andrew understands only too well what could lie ahead for Esther, despite the fact she looks perfectly healthy.

Although she has only just started walking and struggles to run, she has otherwise developed well, and Sarah said she is very creative and enjoys drawing, painting and playing in the sandpit.

She said: "On the surface she looks just like a normal child. You can hardly tell there's anything wrong with her but she's already been through so much.

"I hope and pray that she pulls through her next operation. I hope that she will go on to be happy and that she succeeds in everything that she ever wants to. She is a unique child; one of a kind."

Andrew bought the 1943 Thomas Green diesel engine from Leeds around the time Esther was born and had it moved to his garden, where he has tenderly restored it to its former glory with the help of his family.