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2004 June 30 - Liver Transplant Tot Celebrates 1st Anniversary of Life Saving Operation

NEWS RELEASE

30 June 2004

LIVER TRANSPLANT TOT CELEBRATES 1ST ANNIVERSARY OF LIFE SAVING OPERATION

Little Dylan Mahon of Castleknock, Dublin will reach a major milestone on 20 July when he celebrates the first anniversary of his life saving liver transplant.

Dylan, who was two on 30 May, was born with biliary atresia,?a rare condition in which the bile ducts in the liver become progressively blocked, leading to irreversible liver damage.

Dylan?s father Richard Mahon said: ?We realised Dylan was ill when he was six weeks old.? We took him for his six week check and the paediatrician spotted something was wrong straight away and immediately referred him to Our Lady?s Hospital? for Sick Children.? When we were told how ill he was and that he might need a transplant we were absolutely devastated.? 101 questions went through our heads:? why us? Did we do something wrong?? What does the future hold?? Would he die?? We were unable to fully comprehend the consequences of the situation until much later.?

Richard says that the Children's Liver Disease Foundation (CLDF), a unique national charity that fights liver disease in children and young people, has helped the family immensely.?? He continued: ?We first heard about the Foundation when we were at King?s College Hospital, London and met the family support officer, Sue Davis.? The information she gave us on liver disease and transplantation was tremendously helpful.?

Dylan is doing extremely well since his transplant and has to have check-ups at King?s once a year and check ups at his local hospital monthly. Richard explained: ?I am most proud of Dylan when people are totally surprised that he has had a transplant and say that he looks and acts like a normal two year old.? It shows us he is doing well.? I would like more people to be aware that children get liver disease.? Many people don?t realise that children are affected when in fact one in every 2,700 newborn babies will have liver disease.?

Catherine Arkley, chief executive of CLDF, said: ?Many people are unaware that at least two children a day are diagnosed with a liver disease, and these are the children we know about.? The Foundation believes that effective research is the key to providing a future for youngsters with a childhood liver disease. Children like Dylan are alive today thanks, amongst other things, to CLDF?s significant efforts in funding cutting edge research. But it is only through the help of our supporters and raising awareness of childhood liver disease that we are able to continue our work.?

For more information on the work of CLDF please call 0121 2123839, e-mail info@childliverdisease.org or visit www.childliverdisease.org

ENDS

For more information about this story please contact Rebecca O?Connor on 0121 212 6012 or e-mail rebeccaOC@childliverdisease.org

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