36 year old Sarah Lamont, is to risk her life by becoming an organ donor to her son for the second time.
She's giving her four-year-old son Joe a third of her liver later this month. Without it, Joe could die at any time. Then his mum will put herself in peril again to give her son a kidney.
Sarah the mother of three told said: “Joe has got high blood pressure in his liver and he could bleed to death from blood vessels rupturing, I wasn’t prepared to wait and wait and lose him. He is so precious I couldn’t bear life without him
He has been so through such a lot that all I want is for him to be well and lead a normal life. The
liver is the priority because that will be life-saving, but then I will
give him a kidney because I don’t want him having to wait any longer.”
Joe has advanced liver disease and we are running out of time. he has been on kidney dialysis since birth but there is no machine that will do the job of the liver. I’ve had all the counselling about the risks. They are great surgeons and will do the best for me. But if anything goes wrong for me I know I will die knowing I saved my son
Joe was
born with autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease, which
destroyed his kidney function at birth. His diseased organs were so
enormous – the size of adult kidneys – that they had to be removed soon
after birth to save his life because they were pressing on other vital
parts
Joe suffered a cardiac arrest at birth and then
a brain bleed, and then a collapsed lung, but each time he’s pulled
through, I know I have two other children to think of but I would put my life on the line for any of my children
My
Joe is such a little fighter. He was so ill when born, we were told he
wouldn’t get to six months. In the past children with his condition were
given palliative care and allowed to die
He was very poorly and the thought did occur to me that maybe I shouldn’t allow him to suffer, He
cuddles me and says mummy, don’t leave me. He knows about the operation
and how a bit of mummy’s liver and her kidney will make him well again
But I’m just so glad he’s survived. He’s an amazing kid who has defied the odds several times.,He’s not a toddler any more but he still likes to snuggle up in bed with me at night
He’s as bright as a button and is already going to nursery but he has lost a lot of his life so far to being ill
He spent the first year of his life in hospital and has to dialyse four times a week. So now my priority for the New Year is to make him well as soon as possible
Professor Darius Mirza, head of liver transplant surgery at
University Hospital Birmingham, said: “It really is great news that
parents and relatives and even friends are willing to be donors.
“The
surgery is as safe as we can make but all surgery has risks. Ideally
society should be providing the solution so that we don’t need to use
live donors no matter how keen they are about wanting to help.
“We
need to maximise all opportunities particularly when it comes to
getting the good quality livers we want to use in children.
“The
donor profile is getting older. Tragically children will die and become
potential donors. That’s why we need parents to agree with each other
that they will donate if they lose a child.
“And parents need to
have that conversation with their older children so that they can be
encouraged to sign up to be organ donors.
“It’s a difficult conversation for families but less hard to have in advance than in a moment of grief.”
Joe with big brother Max and big sister Eve
Sarah added: “I’d just like to thank all the families who
do donate and those who are organ donors. But at the moment getting a
liver is a lottery and I can’t wait any longer. I’m Joe’s mum and I’m
going to do what’s needed to make him well.”
Surgeon Paolo
Muiesan, who will remove part of Sarah’s liver, said: “If it was one of
my children needing a liver I would almost certainly donate.
“She is a very motivated lady and deserves praise for undergoing surgery twice to help her son.
“The
reality is that you have an 18 per cent greater risk of dying waiting
for a dead organ donor compared with having a live liver transplant.
“It is harder and harder to get organs, particularly for children.
“We would want to give them the liver of a dead donor less than 40 to 50 years of age because they are better quality.
“However,
the profile of donors who die is getting older because fewer young
people are dying from trauma such as road traffic accidents.
“That means the pool of organs for children is smaller.”
Professor
Nizam Mamode, who performs transplants on children at Guy’s and St
Thomas’ Hospital in London said: “You have to admire the boy’s mum for
being prepared to donate twice.
“It is a courageous thing to do given the risks involved.”
Caring and super mum puts her life on line by donating TWO major organs to save her seriously ill son
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