Leeds City Council is urgently calling for a kidney donor to help significantly enhance the life of a 12-year-old boy in its care.
In an extraordinary move, the council is reaching out to the Leeds community to locate a suitable donor for the critically ill child, who has been in foster care since 2022. Identified only as ‘Jack’ for privacy and safety reasons, he was diagnosed with chronic kidney failure at just ten months old. Jack has been on the transplant waiting list since 2019 without a match.
Recently, his condition has worsened, leading to him relying on his final treatment option. This has severely affected his quality of life and poses a serious threat to his future unless a donor is found soon. The council is committed to supporting him through his critical health challenges and is calling on individuals in Leeds, and beyond, to step forward and see if they can provide him with a new lease on 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 experienced kidney failure and started on a home dialysis regimen that allowed him to maintain a relatively normal daily routine. Recently, however, due to complications, he has had to switch to a more intensive form of dialysis. This new treatment requires him to be in the hospital, connected to a machine for four hours during each session, three times a week.
Janine Craven, delivery manager in Leeds City Council’s children and families service 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.”
Councillor 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 frequently donated organs by living individuals, with roughly one-third of all kidney transplants in the UK coming from living donors. This is possible because a healthy person can lead a normal life with just one functioning kidney. Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust has a longstanding history of performing kidney transplants, having conducted over 5,800 since 1967. To be considered for donation, potential donors must fulfill specific criteria: they must be aged between 18 and 55, be a UK resident, not have diabetes, not be undergoing treatment for cancer, and have a body mass index (BMI) of less than 30.
Surinder Sapal, a trainee consultant radiographer at Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust, has personally experienced the impact of donating. She gave a kidney to a two-year-old girl in Newcastle. The child is now reported to be doing exceptionally well, illustrating the profound difference a donor can make.
The mum-of-two from Wakefield went through the procedure in 2019 and 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.”
Jo James, a transplant coordinator at Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust, noted that Jack is among more than 6,000 individuals in the UK awaiting a kidney transplant. She highlighted that a kidney from a living donor is considered the ‘Gold Standard’ for transplant procedures. 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 details on how to become a donor, please visit the NHS Organ Donation page at www.organdonation.nhs.uk
To discover more stories from previous kidney donors, check out the charity website at Donate A Kidney | Make Your Mark
If you’re interested in donating and want further information, you can reach out via email at leedskidneyappeal@nhs.net
