A new mother has been left devastated after priceless photos of her newborn’s birth went missing from Nevill Hall hospital reports Christopher Gage.

Aimie Bevan, 23, has been frantically searching for her camera’s memory card since she learned of the ‘bombshell’ news, and hopes to be reunited with the irreplaceable album of her son Casey’s birth.

Ms Bevan gave birth at Nevill Hall hospital on May 28, surrounded by family members, including her mother Amanda Thomas, who was photographing the event with a digital camera.

The next day, her mother told her she couldn’t find the card, and that hundreds of photos of the life-defining event, and a recording of the newborn’s heartbeat, had been lost.

Ms Bevan said, “My mum was taking the photos. She ran out of space on the one SD card, and had to use another. She lost the one she took out.

“We went home at 3pm. She told us in the car on the way home that she couldn’t find it.

“I was really upset. I started to cry, and still cry now. It’s not just the memories of him, but it has photos of my other son, Bailey, as well.

“We have photos of the birth, and of last Christmas. They cannot be replaced,” she said.

Ms Bevan, along with her fiancé and mother, began a frantic week-long search for the memory card, which is the larger postal stamp size used for digital cameras.?

“We searched the house first, top to bottom, but it wasn’t there. After about a week of looking, we realised it must be in Nevill Hall somewhere.

“I’m not annoyed with my Mum. I don’t blame her, but I am upset that it wasn’t put somewhere safe.

“She feels like it is her fault. I sort of blame myself, because this shouldn’t have happened.

“If someone has picked it up, by accident, I hope they can just hand it in,” she said.

The family have been appealing for help through social media, and managed to recruit staff at Nevill Hall to help publicise the missing photos on their website.

A £50 reward is currently on offer for return of the ‘hugely sentimental’ photos.

“We decided to get pro-active. We put some information out on Facebook and got some posters printed. The hospital put the news on their website too. I just hope it shows up,” said Ms Bevan.

The family are now pinning their hopes on a similar card which was handed in to hospital staff over the weekend. It is so badly damaged, it has to be sent to specialists who will attempt to retrieve any data stored on it. ?

?They won’t know whether their desperate hopes have been met until engineers manage to access the card, which would take at least a week.

“Even if it has been found and erased, I’d rather know and at least put closure on this,” said Aimie.

“It has massive sentimental value. It’s not something we could ever hope to replace.”

The missing photos were taken from the start of her labour, to the cutting of the umbilical cord by her fiancé, the memories of which, she says, are priceless.

“It’s a very special thing for us. My son ended up in the neonatal ward because staff thought something was wrong with his heart. If the worst had happened, those photos would be all I had.

“He’s okay now, but I just really want those photos back.

“Even if someone does have the card, I just want to know what’s happened with the photos. They can keep the rest. I just hope it somehow shows up. I’m praying it does.”

Her mother Amanda, 51, said she is anxious to find out whether the card handed in by a member of the public is the one she misplaced.

“I’m praying that this is the right one because I can’t go through this any more. I can’t see anyone being daft enough to lose the same card as me at the same time! I am praying it turns out okay,” she said.