Faced with seeing the heartbreaking impact that liver and kidney diseases have had on her sweet four-year-old, Sarah Lamont has no doubts in her mind about donating her own organs to save his life.
Young Joe, who lives with his 36-year-old mother Sarah in Ballymena, Ireland, was born with a rare condition called autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease.
This diagnosis forced the youngster to have both of his kidneys removed and he now lives his life on a dialysis machine.
During his first four years, Joe also developed advanced liver disease – a condition that requires him to have an organ transplant.
“In June, Joe had been on the transplant list for over a year and there was no sign of him getting a call,” Ms Lamont says, according to Ireland’s Independent.
“Meanwhile, we saw other wee kids getting kidneys from their mum or dad. It’s life changing for them.”
It was this epiphany – or “brainwave” as she describes it – that spurred the devoted mum to contact Birmingham’s Children Hospital in a bid to donate one of her kidneys and part of her liver to her son-in-need.
Ms Lamont, who soon discovered she is the same blood match as Joe, is scheduled for surgery on January 25 – but she stresses that she would have the operation right now, if she could.
“I’m lucky I can give Joe a liver and kidney, but if he had a heart problem he could die waiting,” she says.
“I’ll be all right, I’m a very optimistic person. If I could do it today I would, the sooner the better,” she says.
“I said to him the other night ‘this is going to be your year Joe’ and he got excited and said to me ‘I’m getting a new liver and a new kidney!'”
We are wishing Ms Lamont and Joe all the best during their life-altering operations.
