Best Mother’s Day gift is seeing my son thrive after I donated kidney
TO HER three-year-old son Rocco, Katie Aaron is the best mother in the world – for one special reason.
Brave Katie, 33, saved his life by donating one of her kidneys for him after he was born with organ failure.
Rocco had to have the operation at just 10 days old but it couldn’t save him. So last September doctors transplanted one of Katie’s kidneys into the toddler.
The pair have now made a good recovery, and Rocco has been able to start at nursery, thanks to his mother’s selfless gift.
Katie, who lives with partner Joe Sankey, 32, in Wigan, Greater Manchester, and their older son, Jayden, 14, said: “I never hesitated to give my kidney to Rocco. It has made such a difference to him already.”
The youngster was born four weeks early in April, 2018.
Katie said: “I knew something was wrong with him throughout my pregnancy as I didn’t feel him move much all the way through. He had to be born early by caesarian as I started to lose fluid around him.
“As soon as he was born he started to lose weight, and doctors did some tests and it showed that he had problems with his kidneys.
“It was such a shock, especially when they told us that he was suffering from stage five kidney failure, caused by a condition called Cystic Renal Dysplasia, a condition which means the kidneys don’t develop normally in the womb.”
Katie said: “It was terrifying to see him operated on when he had only just been born and he was so tiny.” Rocco’s condition was then managed on medication until he was three, as doctors wanted to carry out a kidney transplant but he wasn’t big enough. When he reached almost two stones in weight, they decided that he could go ahead and have the operation.
Katie was supported by Kidneys For Life, which raises money for research into kidney disease, transplants and dialysis. She said: “He’s started nursery, and although he’s picking up all the usual colds and bugs, he is doing really well.
“He will start school in September this year, and he’s really looking forward to that.
“And he’s just started mini motorbike racing too, and he loves it.
“To see him being able to live a normal life is the best Mother’s Day present I could ever have asked for.”