My View, David Crichton: Gran's special gift for grandson, three

Jack, aged three, was born with severe kidney problems that doctors had detected during mum, Jennifer’s pregnancy.

When he arrived his first two months of life were spent in hospital while doctors tried to determine the extent of the damage to his organs.

Finally back home in Tickhill, his first two years of life were spent in constant pain and he had to be fed by a tube into his stomach.

Healthy kidneys play a big part in supporting the body’s digestion system and, as he was born with only one and it wasn’t working properly, Jack was also sick a lot.

He worsened and by last September his sole kidney had started to fail and he had to endure nightly dialysis at home, being hooked up to a machine for about 12 hours.

A kidney transplant was the only solution to give Jack a normal life. So step forward grandma Julie Cox who, after compatibility tests, was found to be a near-perfect match.

Julie had decided from Jack’s early days that if a transplant was needed, and if she was suitable, that she would willingly give up one of her kidneys.

Doctors wanted to wait until his body was big enough to accept his new kidney and that day came in May, when Julie went to Nottingham City Hospital to have one of her kidney’s removed, before it was raced the short distance to Queen’s Medical Centre to be transplanted into Jack.

Julie was up and out of bed within four hours of her operation but Jack unfortunately was unconscious for a couple of weeks and needed a further four operations. The transformation was dramatic as his new kidney started to work. Having not spoken much, he became a chatterbox overnight and started behaving like a normal three- year-old.

Because of his young age, Jack may well need another new kidney in the future and Dad Steven is already lined up to keep it in the family. But it’s all looking good so far.

Jack’s story shows the importance of becoming an organ donor. I am on the NHS Organ Register and I urge everyone to consider doing the same. It’s something we all need to consider with our families to make sure our wishes are known if anything unexpected happens to us.

There’s lots of material to help you make an informed choice about becoming a donor at www.organdonation.nhs.uk

If you’re not sure if you’re registered or would like to speak to someone to help you make a decision you can ring 0300 1232323.

The key question we should all ask ourselves is: ‘If I needed an organ transplant would I have one?’