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NEWS RELEASE18 February 2004
CELEBRATION FOR "WALKING MIRACLE"
Holly Jobson, aged four from Duston, has a lot to celebrate as she looks forward to the fourth anniversary of her life-saving liver transplant on 26 February.
Holly was born with a liver condition called biliary atresia, a rare condition in which the bile ducts in the liver become progressively blocked, leading to irreversible liver damage.
Mother Antje Swann said: "We realised Holly was ill when her jaundice wouldn?t clear. As first time parents we had no idea of the signs of liver disease and didn?t associate it with newborn babies. We were so fortunate that our health visitor spotted the signs very early or the outcome could have been very different. When we were told Holly was ill and would need a transplant our first feelings were horror and helplessness. After the transplant I couldn?t believe the transformation in Holly. She was laughing and really happy whereas days before she could not open her eyes and could barely breathe for herself."
Antje says that the Children?s Liver Disease Foundation, a unique national charity that fights liver disease in children and young people, has helped the family immensely. She continued: "We first heard of CLDF when we were at Birmingham Children?s Hospital. Sue Davis, the senior support officer for the Foundation, introduced herself and offered support from the outset. We were provided with the relevant literature, which helped us to understand what was happening. The Foundations support has been invaluable and Sue was always there with a shoulder to cry on and experience our joy when Holly made progress."
Holly is now doing extremely well and Antje says that since her transplant she has gone from strength to strength and is about to start karate classes. Antje said: "To us Holly is a walking miracle. We treasure every birthday and Christmas we share and always will, because they are all celebrations that at one stage we thought we would never have together."
Catherine Arkley chief executive of CLDF said: "It is great that Holly is doing so well and I am pleased that the family feel they have gained a lot of support from the Foundation. At least two children are diagnosed every day with a liver disease and these are just the children that we know about. Through funding research CLDF hopes to find out why these children get liver disease. It is only through the help and efforts of our supporters that we can continue to fund this research and provide the emotional support that is so vital to families."
If you would like to support CLDF or would like more information on their work, please call 0121 212 3839 or e-mail info@childliverdisease.org
ENDS
If you would like more information on this story or the work of CLDF please contact Rebecca O?Connor on 0121 2123839 or e-mail rebeccaOC@childliverdisease.org
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