Leeds hospital blown away by 'phenomenal response' to kidney donor appeal for boy in care as 700 offer help
An appeal to find a kidney donor for a 12-year-old boy in Leeds has been met with a “phenomenal response”.
The transplant team at Leeds Children’s Hospital say they have been inundated with offers of help – receiving nearly 700 enquiries within a matter of days – as people rallied to support the youngster following an appeal issued by the council last week and first shared exclusively by the YEP.
The boy, who cannot be named, has been on the transplant waiting list since 2019, having first been diagnosed with chronic kidney failure when he was just 10-months-old, the council said.
Due to recent complications, the youngster is now on his last treatment option, involving in-hospital dialysis, hooked up to a machine for four hours, three times a week – vastly reducing his quality of life and putting his future at real risk unless a kidney is found.
Coun Helen Hayden, Leeds City Council’s executive member for children and families, said: “Thank you Leeds for your phenomenal response to our appeal asking for help for this young boy.
“We have been blown away by your support and are profoundly grateful to everyone for sharing the campaign so widely and to the potential donors who have come forward in their hundreds.
“This just shows how the people of Leeds can come together when it counts and how compassionate our city is when it comes to supporting one of our own.”
Issuing a public appeal about a child in care was a highly unusual step for Leeds City Council but one deemed vital to try to help him in his devastating health battle – and both his carers and clinical team have been amazed and deeply touched by the sheer scale of support.
Within days, the appeal had been shared over 34,000 times on Leeds City Council’s Facebook page alone, reaching over 3m people – with touching messages coming from in from as far afield as Australia.
Transplant co-ordinators at Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust (LTHT) have now asked to pause the appeal they process the hundreds received so far but urged anyone interested to please join the Donating your kidney - NHS Organ Donation national database and help the many others in a similar situation.
A spokesperson from the LTHT’s Live Donor Team said: “We’re delighted by the response to this particular campaign and would like to thank everyone who has come forward to offer their support.
“Due to the scale of the response, at present we are no longer looking for new enquiries for this patient but anyone who is thinking about becoming an organ donor should visit www.organdonation.nhs.uk as there are many other patients waiting for donor organs.”
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (LTHT) has been carrying out kidney transplants since 1967, performing over 5,800 transplants to date.
To find out more on organ donation and how to join the register, please visit Register your decision - NHS Organ Donation and for more information on kidney donation specifically, visit Donating your kidney - NHS Organ Donation.