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This is a post that we never imagined we would need to write,😢😢 but after almost 17 months of Lucas waiting for a liver transplant, time is not on his side, and with his consultant stressing to us at our last clinic appointment that children with Hepatopulmonary Syndrome need a transplant sooner rather than later, with no possible way of increasing his priority on the Paediatric register and unable to be placed on the adult register yet as he doesn’t weigh enough, we find ourselves writing this in the hope 🙏 that there may be a generous person🧚 out there who would be willing to help Lucas and save his life, by donating a lobe of their liver as a live liver donor. This is possible because the liver is able to regenerate itself and grow back, usually by 12 weeks following surgery.
For those who don’t know Lucas 👦 he was born with a rare liver disease, and although he remained stable for a few years, his health has rapidly declined over the past few years and it was decided almost 17 months ago that he needed a liver transplant. However donors are becoming less, and with Lucas’s size and his blood group being rarer, his chance of receiving a donor offer is smaller (An offer doesn’t always mean the transplant will go ahead as the surgeon needs the check the organ themselves before deciding that it’s suitable for transplant).
At the moment, a live liver donor is Lucas’s best option. We have explored the option of a live donor within the family but unfortunately no-one is a suitable candidate, so we are now putting out this appeal in the hope of finding someone who would be kind and generous enough to be willing to donate some of their liver to save our little boy’s life, as we are really scared that an offer may not come in time and we will lose him.🥺😭
Please only contact the team if you are serious about being a live liver donor, and meet the following criteria, as going through potential donors is an admin intensive task.
🔹 Blood group must be B or O (this MUST be known prior to contacting team, Eldoncard tests can be purchased via Amazon, eBay etc)
🔹BMI under 30
🔹Under 50 years old
🔹Minimal drinker and no smoking 8 weeks prior to surgery
🔹No significant medical conditions
If you meet the above criteria, and are serious about being a live liver donor for Lucas, you can contact the team by email:
leedsth-tr.leedsliverappeal@nhs.net
More information about live liver donation can be found here (you may need to copy and paste):@