Romanian baby arrives for treatment

Baby Cristina with her father Vasile

Doctors at a Nottingham hospital are preparing for the arrival of a baby girl from Romania for specialist surgery.

Cristina Corcor, who is six months old, was born with a cleft lip and palate.

In her home country, Cristina would have had to wait months for surgery.

The operation has been organised by a couple from Nottinghamshire.

Team preparations

Phyllis and Peter Sturgeon raised the money to bring Cristina and her parents to the UK.

The couple worked alongside the baby's mother as voluntary carers in a Romanian hospice.

The hospital team has been preparing for the operation using photographs of Christina taken by Mr Sturgeon on trips to Romania.

The operation will take place on 31 October.

It is hoped after this initial surgery the baby will not need any further operations until she is nine years old.

Vanessa Martin, a clinical nurse specialist at Nottingham City Hospital, said: "This operation will make a big difference to her future development in terms of her speech, her feeding and social skills."