Jay Crouch is a British boy who with only seven years has passed the most difficult test of his life, to overcome an operation in which five organs have been transplanted.
Being a baby, he was diagnosed with short bowel syndrome, a condition that has not only prevented him from feeding through the mouth, but also affected the functioning of several of his organs. Now, Jay is recovering from the intervention and will gradually face the challenge of learning to eat.
Short bowel syndrome
When Jay was 6 weeks old, doctors diagnosed him with short bowel syndrome, an abnormality that affected his small intestine also causing complications in the kidneys and other vital organs. Consequently, the boy has never been able to eat food by mouth, and during all this time it has been fed intravenously.
But little by little his organs began to fail and the only possible solution that doctors saw was a multiple organ transplant, which could finally be done last March, when a compatible donor appeared.
An unprecedented case
The little one was transplanted in a single operation of the two kidneys, the pancreas, the liver and the small intestine; All organs from the same donor.
The intervention, which lasted 10 hours, was carried out by a team of 12 doctors and has been a great success, despite the exceptional nature of their case. Not surprisingly, Jay has become the first child in the United Kingdom to undergo a multiple organ transplant in a single operation.
"It has been a very complicated operation that has also been done very rarely. So we had to prepare it in great detail" - explained Dr. Khalid Sharif, responsible doctor.
Despite the complexity of his case, Jay is recovering very well and after a month hospitalized has recently been discharged to continue with your care from home.
Now the child is fed through a tube that goes from his nose to his digestive system, but he can already eat small amounts of food that will gradually increase.
Doctors believe that In the next few years Jay will be able to eat in an absolutely normal way, something that you will have to learn to do little by little, because in its seven years of life it has never been fed through the mouth.
A new life thanks to a donor
After many years of suffering, this little boy and his family smile again and are hopeful with this new opportunity that life has given them. Still, Jay's mother doesn't forget that Behind his joy lies the sadness of another family:
"There are not enough words to thank the donor and his family, and although we are delighted that Jay has had this opportunity, we are also incredibly aware of the sadness and tragedy that another family had to endure to make this possible."
Organ donation is one of the greater samples of generosity than there may be, especially when we talk about babies or children. Therefore, it is important to become aware and thank those who, despite the immense pain of losing a loved one, make the decision to donate their organs to save other lives.
