My daddy, the lifesaver
Emotional reunion after 10-hour surgery that saw father donate part of his liver to his desperately ill son
Matt Price’s little boy Callan was born with a rare genetic condition that meant the youngster’s body was slowly poisoning itself.
Mr Price and wife Jen, 36, were told when the youngster was just five months old that he would need a new liver – and he was placed on the organ transplant waiting list. But rather than wait for a liver to become available, the 39-year-old dad of three decided to donate part of his own.
Father and son underwent the double operation at King’s College Hospital in London to put 20 per cent of Mr Price’s liver into baby Callan. In emotional scenes, the pair were photographed at the moment they were reunited after the operation.
‘It was just unbelievable how they could put part of my liver into a little baby,’ said Mr Price.
‘When I came out, I was just so happy to see him again.
‘It had been such a stressful time but just seeing his face made everything better.’
When Callan was born, hospital staff noticed he had breathing difficulties and was ‘grunting’. Doctors initially thought the baby had fluid on his lungs.
Mr Price, a project director at an events company, said: ‘We thought there was nothing to worry about, the hospital actually took him off us when he was 40 minutes old but they brought him back to us and said he was fine.
‘They said his breathing difficulties would calm down in a few hours but it didn’t and he kept deteriorating.
‘Then when he was four days old he was in a coma. We were told he probably wouldn’t make it through the night. We were told to expect the worst and hope for the best.’
Callan was transferred to a specialist unit at St Thomas Hospital, London where he was diagnosed with the genetic condition ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC). The potentially fatal condition means the liver cannot break down ammonia – causing toxic levels to build up in the blood.
Eventually, it affects the nervous system. Mr Price said: ‘Callan was poisoning his own brain – his brain was closing down as his ammonia level was so high.
‘He was struggling to manage his protein intake, he was breaking his own body down.’
In a so-called living-donor transplantation, a family member can donate a portion of their healthy liver. Because of the organ’s unique ability to regenerate, the partial livers of both donor and recipient can regrow following transplant surgery.
Mr Price was first told to lose weight and cut down his cholesterol. By November 2018 he had lost almost two stone, but medics said Callan was still too small to undergo the operation.
The family were told they would have to wait until the following year, but the operation was then brought forward because Callan’s condition was deteriorating.
It was carried out, successfully, in February. Callan, now 17 months, will need to take medication for the rest of his life and undergo regular tests. There is a chance he could reject the organ and may have to get a new liver in the future.
But Mr Price, from Norfolk, said: ‘He’s exactly like any other young boy. He plays with his big brothers Ronnie, five, and Tom, two, and is so funny. You wouldn’t be able to tell that there is anything wrong with him except for a big scar on his stomach.’ Mr Price added: ‘The future is quite bright, we have a normal as possible life. He’s been so brave and I’m so proud of him.
‘We wanted to tell our story to raise awareness about how important organ donation is.’