Hero dad’s gift of life
He donates kidney to sick 10-year-old son
A DAD whose 10-year-old son was born with a rare genetic disease has gifted his boy a new lease of life by donating one of his kidneys.
Carl Amos, 38, and his wife Tori, 37, recalled when their then 11-week-old son Luke needed hospital treatment after he began to scream and turn blue while playing in his rocker.
Hospital pharmacy technician Tori said doctors diagnosed him with ARPKD – autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease, which left his kidneys covered in cysts that “resembled frog spawn”.
But following several weeks in Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool, he was stable.
And Tori and Carl, of Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, took doctors’ advice to let him live as normal a life as possible.
She said: “When we first found out about his disease we were obviously heartbroken.
“You just assume you’re going to have a healthy, happy baby and when something like this happens it really makes you think about life in a different way.
“After the initial diagnosis and lots of sorting out of blood pressure medicines he eventually lived a pretty normal life with check-ups every six to eight weeks.”
But sadly, by the time Luke turned 10 years old, his kidney function had declined significantly and doctors broke the news that he needed dialysis.
Traffic engineer Carl offered to donate a kidney. By this stage, Luke’s own kidneys had already grown to twice the size of healthy organs.
To prepare for the transplant, Luke underwent a seven-hour operation to remove both his kidneys in February.
Then in another operation on May 5, he received a kidney from his dad.
The pair are now recovering at home and Tori says the family are looking forward to getting their lives back.
She added: “Luke can’t play football or go swimming or do other things that his friends can do. It was more upsetting for us than it was for Luke, he was fine about it.
“He’s up and about with no pain relief and seems really happy.
“It’s a long road to normality but we’re on that road and look forward to hopefully getting our lives back and Luke being able to enjoy high school in September with his friends.”
ARPKD can result in death in the first month of a sufferer’s life.
For the children who survive, around one in three will need dialysis or a transplant by the age of 10.
When we first found out about Luke’s disease we were heartbroken
TORI AMOS ON SON BEING DIAGNOSED AT 11 WEEKS OLD