Brave five-year-old receives 50,000th kidney transplant

Kyle Nuttall had spent most of his life in hospital before his operation at St James's Hospital in Leeds earlier this month. He was diagnosed with an infection that led to chronic renal failure at just ten months old.

In the years that followed Kyle struggled with his growth and weight, and was unable to enjoy everyday foods like bananas and potatoes because he was on a strict diet.

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Now Kyle is looking forward to being able to go back to school, play with his friends, and enjoy a chocolate treat for the first time in almost five years.

"He's a different boy," said Kyle's mum Jeanette, 24. "Before it was such a huge worry watching him having to go through dialysis and not being able to do all the things other children his age would take for granted.

"He's missed a lot of school, but now he can look forward to being with his friends again in the classroom and playground.

"He has a future and I'm so happy for him and so grateful to his donor too. Without their gift Kyle wouldn't have the second chance he's been given."

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Kyle's surgeon, Mr Niaz Ahmad said: "The fact Kyle's kidney transplant is the 50,000th of its kind in this country is a wonderful and significant milestone.

"We should not forget though that the number of people needing a transplant far outweighs the numbers carried out. We are only limited in this respect by the number of organs available."

Last year alone a record 1,947 lives were transformed by a kidney transplant thanks to the generosity of donors and their families – helped largely by an increase in the number of living donor transplants which now account for around a third of all kidney grafts.

Yet there is still a desperate need for more donors. More than 6,500 people are actively listed for a kidney transplant, but in the last five years nearly 1,500 people have died whilst waiting for a suitable match.

Chris Rudge, UK Transplant Managing and Transplant Director, said: "This landmark transplant sends a message of hope to the thousands of people on dialysis waiting for a new kidney.

"Transplants save thousands of lives every year, yet the biggest obstacle to even more lives being saved is that four out of ten families do not allow their loved one's organs to be donated, often because they didn't know what their relative's donation wishes were.

"We know from our own research that a large proportion of people in the UK support organ donation, yet sadly not enough are acting on their good intentions, talking about their wishes with their families and joining the NHS Organ Donor Register. If more did then more lives could be saved."

An Organ Donation Taskforce established by the Department of Health in December 2006 has been investigating the barriers to donation and is making recommendations for consideration by ministers into improving donor and transplant rates in the UK.