A HEARTBROKEN family has made an appeal for the return of a camera containing precious photographs.

Lindsey Chadwick and her partner Craig Scott went into Colchester General Hospital last Monday so their baby could be induced.

At 8.20pm that night Lindsey’s fourth daughter, Daisy, was born. In the hours after her birth, the proud parents took photographs.

Lindsey put the camera in her handbag, was transferred to Lexden Ward to stay overnight, but the camera has not been seen since.

She said: “I’m heartbroken.

“I don’t know if it was stolen, or if it fell out of my bag somewhere. My cousin Michelle has spoken to everyone in the hospital, and they have been fantastic.

“She has even spoken to the man in the laundry, who is going to check all the linen that went out in case it got bundled up with it.

“I don’t care about the camera, I just want the memory card.

The loss is made even more devastating because the camera also contains photos her daughter Lucy’s birthdays.

Lucy is seriously ill with a rare chromosomal condition called 2q24 deletion. She is dependent on oxygen and has liver disease.

Lindsey said: “Lucy is receiving palliative care, and we never know which birthday will be her last.

“Normally I save all the pictures on my computer, but because all my other children have been six or seven weeks premature, I had the camera packed and ready for hospital weeks ago.

“Lucy goes to Shorefields School, Clacton. They gave her the bumps, and she had a cake. I haven’t got any pictures of her birthday at all.”

Peter Symkiss, security advisor at Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust, said: “There were only 24 reported thefts last year which for a workforce of 4,000 staff and thousands of patients and visitors, is a very low figure.”

Anyone who finds the camera, or the card, is urged to hand it in to the Gazette offices in North Hill, Colchester.