Scots boy receives organ transplant 13 years after being diagnosed with chronic kidney disease at age three

A Scots boy who was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease at three years old says he feels “incredibly lucky” after receiving a transplant.

Alexander, from Clydebank, was diagnosed with the disease as a toddler after a hospital stay for a bladder infection.

Doctors discovered that damaged valves had caused urine to flow back into his kidneys, leading to permanent kidney damage and chronic kidney disease.

For the next 13 years, he was in and out of hospital, taking medication, undergoing treatment and spending around a year on dialysis.

While he managed visits to the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow during primary school, missing lessons became much more challenging as he entered high school.

Earlier this year, his life changed when he received a kidney transplant.

The family received the call about a donor kidney while camping in the Highlands. At around 11pm, Alexis, his mum, was woken by a phone call and initially assumed it was about an operation Alexander was already due to have the following Monday.

Instead, it was the call they had been waiting for. The family packed up their eight-person tent in the middle of the night, left around 12.40am and drove straight to the hospital, arriving at around 6am.

After five hours of dialysis, Alexander received his donor kidney at 12.20am on June 20 this year.

He said: “Since having my transplant, I do feel much better, although I still need to take immunosuppressants to stop my body attacking the new kidney.

“Throughout my journey, the staff have been amazing. They are such nice people. Diane King has been with me throughout my time here, as long as I can remember.”

Alexander hopes sharing his story will encourage people to consider organ donation.

“To anybody going through the same journey as me, it is a horribly long road, but at the end of it, it’s amazing.

“To anyone considering becoming a donor, it is one of the best things you can do. You could change so many different people’s lives and because of this, I want to be an organ donor.”

He added: “My experience of going through all this has been a lot easier than most people, and I have been incredibly lucky. I was the only child in Scotland with a fistula.

“Since getting my transplant, the best part about it has been the food. It is a hard road, but with the right people in your life and the great hospital staff, it makes it a bit easier.”

Alexis, Alexander’s mum, said: “I cannot ever comprehend or explain how I felt. My heart didn’t properly beat until Alexander got out of surgery. I can’t ever thank the staff sufficiently for everything they did for him and for us as a family.

“To the family of the donor, I am so very sorry for your loss. Please know you are all in my heart and, more importantly, in my son’s.”

Alexander shared his story as part of Organ and Tissue Donation Week, which runs until Sunday.

For more information on organ donation, you can visit Organ Donation Scotland or: www.organdonation.scot