'This child needs your help': Desperate appeal to find a kidney donor for 12-year-old boy in care

Leeds City Council is taking the highly unusual step of making a public appeal to help find a matching donor for the gravely-ill boy who has been in its care since 2022.

‘Jack’ (not his real name - his age and circumstances mean he must remain anonymous) was diagnosed with chronic kidney failure when he was just 10 months old and has been on the transplant waiting list since 2019 – but so far no donor has been found.

Sadly, due to complications in recent weeks, he is now on his last treatment option – vastly reducing his quality of life and putting his future at real risk unless a kidney is found.

The appeal is being backed by Wakefield mum, Surinder Sapal, a trainee consultant radiographer at Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust, who has been through this life-saving process herself, having donated a kidney to a stranger – a two-year-old girl in Newcastle, who is now said to be thriving.

The mum-of-two, who went through the procedure in 2019, said: “I have done it voluntarily and would absolutely advocate that if you could do it and can do it, then go and do it.

“This child needs your help. I was able to help a child and knowing how much of a difference it’s made to her and her lifestyle and milestones because of my donation, I would say it’s amazing if someone can come forward and do the same for this child.

“I’m very proud that I was able to donate. If I could do it again I would.”

The council is determined to do all it can to help him in his devastating health battle and is urging people to come forward and see if they can give him a renewed lease of life.

Janine Craven, delivery manager in Leeds City Council’s children and families service, said: “This is a lovely young boy who has very sadly spent most of his childhood in and out of hospital.

“We have been told by his medical team that if his current treatment fails, there are no other options left for him.

“Every day he is asking staff if a kidney donor has been found yet. It’s a really heart-breaking situation and we just hope a donor can be found for him soon.”

Four years ago, Jack’s kidneys failed and he was placed on a form of dialysis which could be administered at home overnight and meant he could go about his days as normally as possible.

But due to complications within the last few weeks, he has now been moved onto a different form of dialysis which involves in-hospital treatment, hooked up to a machine for four hours, three times a week.

Janine added: “This is having a really negative impact on his life and emotional well-being and restricts his ability to attend school or see his friends.

“He’s done amazingly well with his treatment so far and the hospital staff have been really positive about how he’s managed the change despite the restrictions it places on his day-to-day life.

“He spends his time in hospital doing school work, building Lego and watching YouTube – but he is understandably frustrated with the current situation.

“We’re told this is the last form of dialysis he can have and it also comes with its own risks, which increase the longer he is receiving it. A kidney transplant is now his best option.”

Coun Helen Hayden, Leeds City Council’s executive member for children and families, said: “Please help us to find this 12-year-old boy a kidney.

“To publicly appeal like this about a child in our care is a first for us at the council but we strongly feel this action should be taken, and urgently, to help him.

“Dialysis is keeping him alive at the moment but is a dire way to live and without it, he would die. A kidney transplant would truly transform, and prolong, his life.

“We appreciate this is a lot to ask but please do consider checking if you are eligible and if you feel you can help.

“The more people who come forward, the better the chance we have of finding him a donor.”

Kidneys are the most commonly donated organs by living people, with about a third of all kidney transplants carried out in the UK coming from living donors, as a healthy person can live a normal life with one functioning kidney.

Potential donors must meet certain criteria to be eligible to donate. These are: aged between 18 and 55, a UK resident, not have diabetes, not receiving any treatment for cancer and having a body mass index (BMI) of less than 30.

Jo James, transplant co-ordinator at Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust, said Jack is one of over 6,000 people waiting for a kidney transplant in the UK and a kidney from a living donor is seen as the “gold standard” for transplants.

She said: “Kidneys can come from deceased donors however only a small number of people (fewer than one per cent) die in circumstances where their organs are suitable for transplant.

“The success rate for transplants from living donors is better than for transplants from deceased donors, and they can also last many years longer.

“If more people donated a kidney, the waiting list for transplants would shrink.

“For paediatric patients a successful transplant can mean being able to spend more time away from hospital, get back to school full time and regain a more independent childhood and increase their life expectancy long term.”

For more information on becoming a donor, visit Donating your kidney - NHS Organ Donation

Potential donors can email [email protected].

Fact file

A kidney from a living donor (rather than from someone who has died) offers the recipient the best opportunity of success.

Anyone volunteering will be asked to undertake a series of tests to ensure they are suitable to donate – these include blood tests, urine tests, X-rays, scans, heart tracing and kidney function tests.

Volunteers will be allocated with a Living Donor Coordinator to guide them through the process.

The assessment process usually takes at least three months but can take more or less time.

Most transplant centres will try to arrange tests and investigations around work to minimise disruption to jobs.

The operation is carried out under general anaesthetic, using keyhole surgery, and usually takes approximately two to three hours, with patients in Leeds generally going home the day after surgery.

The recovery period after the operation usually lasts between four and eight weeks.

There is a UK scheme which enables donors to reclaim necessary expenses such as loss of earnings and travel. However, donors should first discuss this with their employer and find out what is available under their terms of employment.