Miracle baby survivor
Miracle transplant survivor Little Layla was given 12 months to live, then she received a life-saving liver donation at the final hour
From Layla Saxon’s peachesand-cream complexion and boundless energy, it’s hard to believe just weeks ago the nine-month-old sweetheart was so sickly her skin glowed yellow. But after receiving a lifesaving transplant, her cheeks are now a healthy pink.
At seven weeks old, Layla was diagnosed with a rare condition called biliary atresia, which meant her liver didn’t function properly. Doctors told her parents Aleisha Brown, 25, and Andrew Saxon, 24, that without a transplant it was unlikely their tiny blue-eyed baby would live to see her first birthday.
“I took all the information in for a while and then just broke down,” remembers Aleisha. “It was heartbreaking.”
Organising a transplant for a newborn baby is no easy feat. It requires not only that a suitable donor be found but also that the baby is healthy and strong enough to withstand the surgery. Born weighing just 2.7kg, Layla was eight weeks old when she survived her first major surgery.
“That operation joined part of her stomach to her liver, and helped delay the need for a transplant,” explains Aleisha.
But the surgery also revealed how serious Layla’s condition was. Doctors discovered she had no bile ducts or gall bladder. And, tragically, the op did little to relieve her illness. “She became very yellow, she started to gain a lot of fluid in her stomach and still wasn’t putting on weight. She was very sick,” says Aleisha.
For four months Layla lay in Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital, while she waited for a liver to become available.
Her devoted parents stayed by her side, but apart from their little girl’s sunny disposition and infectious smile, they ey hadha ad no guarantee that she’d survivesurv rvive long enough to get a transplant.nsp plant.
The desperate couple appearedpp peared on the news, begging Aussiessie es to donate, and Layla’s grandad dadd Terry Saxon rang magazinesnes and newspapers to help spread the word.
Finally, after seven months of uncertainty, a liver became available. The transplant took 13 hours, with Andrew and Aleisha praying franticallyy that Layla would make it.
When she did, they both cried tears of relief. “When we saw her after surgery, we could already see the yellow disappearing,” recalls Aleisha. “It was amazing!”
“She’s our hero,” chimes in Andrew. “She’s been through so much. To have her at home and healthy means the world.”
‘To have Layla home and healthy means the world!’