A South African woman living in the North made Irish medical history today when stem cells were collected from her new-born baby at the Causeway Hospital in Coleraine.
Liza Ackermann, who has lived in Coleraine for three years with her husband Brahm, who is also South African, gave birth to her second child, a boy, by Caesarean section.
The stem cells were harvested from the baby's umbilical cord.
The couple, who are soon to return to Cape Town, believe that harvesting stem cells could save the child's life in the future by warding off serious illnesses such as cancer, leukaemia, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease.
