‘He’s battled for survival since day he was born’

CONNOR JONES is six and lives with mother Stacey Allen, 29, stepfather Ryan Ogborne, 29, a health care assistant, and brother James, two, in Bristol.

He had a lifesaving liver transplant in March this year after he was born with a liver condition called biliary atresia.the liver came from a donor family.

Stacey, a full-time mother, said: “This is the first Christmas that I don’t have to worry that I’m going to lose my son.

“He’s had a battle for survival since being born. He was diagnosed with the condition when he was just a few weeks old, after suffering from jaundice. We were shocked when we were told what he had, we had never even heard of the condition before.

“Connor had an operation to try to solve the problem, but it didn’t work.

“He was managed for a while on medication but then he started to go downhill.

“His stomach got really swollen because his liver wasn’t working properly and was becoming enlarged, and he had no energy. I wanted to give him part of my own liver and it broke my heart when doctors told me I couldn’t because I was a different blood group to him.

“When he had the transplant it was the most amazing feeling. Without it, we would have lost him, and we will be for ever in the debt of the donor family, who made the brave decision to donate their loved ones organs.

“Connor was in hospital for two weeks before he was allowed home, and now he is just a ball of energy.

“We are going to have a fantastic Christmas this year, as all my worry about him has gone.”