Lily Cater's family has

suffered another blow after the lifesaving operation the desperately-ill little girl needs was postponed for the eighth time yesterday.

The family, from Low Moor, Bradford, must now wait for another date - and her parents fear that could be cancelled too.

Two-year-old Lily, who suffers an extremely rare condition called pulmonary atresia, is on the waiting list at Birmingham Children's Hospital.

She was due to be operated on by top heart surgeons on February 15 but her surgery has been repeatedly delayed because the hospital has a shortage of post-operative intensive care beds.

"It's very hard to describe exactly how we are feeling," said Lily's mum Michala Cater, who looked crestfallen on hearing the news that the suitcases she has had packed for more than a month now still will not be needed.

"We are losing faith in the system because we were told last time that Lily was down as an urgent case and yet I was told by the hospital a couple of days ago that there were two other children on the list before Lily.

"It's difficult to know what to believe now."

Lily, whose condition is also known as blue baby syndrome, suffers from severe shortages of breath and often turns blue when she plays or gets excited.

The bigger she gets the more dangerous her condition becomes as her little heart struggles to pump oxygen around her body.

Her parents were initially told by doctors at Leeds General Infirmary that there was no cure for their daughter and that she would die before the age of five.

Unwilling to accept that fate they mounted a battle to get a second opinion and were eventually referred to doctors at Birmingham Children's Hospital.

"This is like being on an emotional rollercoaster," said Mrs Cater.

"It is putting the entire family under severe strain."

When the operation finally goes ahead top heart surgeons at the hospital will perform major heart surgery on Lily that will last several hours.

She will have to remain in hospital for several weeks but, if the difficult surgery is a success, she is expected to have the life of a healthy, normal child.