Transplant a gift of life for Aria

NEBRASKA MEDICAL CENTER

HIGH HOPES: The MacDonald family, mum Anita, Aria, Asher, 2, and dad Hamish at the Nebraska Medical Center in December. The family moved to Omaha two months ago to wait for Aria's surgery.

ANOTHER CHANCE: A gift of organs from an unknown child has given Aria MacDonald her first shot at a normal life.

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A gift of organs from an unknown child has given Aria MacDonald her first shot at a normal life.

The Auckland three-year-old received a life-saving transplant of small intestine, liver, kidney and pancreas at Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha on Saturday, two months after she and her family moved to the United States to give her one last chance at survival.

Without a transplant, Aria had just months left before liver failure killed her. She was born with a rare condition that means she cannot digest food.

The weeks ahead will be difficult as Aria's family and doctors wait to see whether her body will accept her new organs.

Writing on the family's website, Aria's mother, Anita, said that, despite their joy, her heart was heavy with thoughts for the unknown donor child's family.

"I have tasted their grief in those first early days with Aria. I can't begin to imagine their pain."

Aria's transplant was paid for with a $2.5 million grant from the Health Ministry's taxpayer-funded high-cost treatment pool, which funds one-off treatments not otherwise funded by the public health system.

The surgery to remove her old organs and replace them with the new ones took more than 10 hours, with a team of surgeons, nurses and anaesthetists working through the night.

Her aunt, Alexandra Ready, has been in constant contact with Aria's parents and said Aria was recovering well. "Her medical team gave her a nine out of 10 during their rounds this morning."

The operation took about four hours longer than expected because some of Aria's organs were stuck together. She was due to head back to the operating theatre overnight so that surgeons could clean up her abdominal cavity.

Since the MacDonalds arrived in Omaha, the hospital had received two other offers of organs, but had to turn them down because they were not in good enough condition to be transplanted.

Aria's operation began less than 12 hours after surgeons at the hospital were told that organs had become available.

The quick turnaround was vital, otherwise there was a much greater risk that Aria's body would reject the organs.

The road ahead was going to be tough, Ms Ready said. "There's a huge risk of infection and rejection of the organs. It's a really hard time."

Aria has been fed through her veins throughout her life, so will need months of therapy to teach her to bite, chew and swallow food.

Despite all her difficulties, she has so far beaten everyone's expectations. When she was born, her parents were told by two specialists it would be best to let her die, before Starship children's hospital gastroenterologist Helen Evans agreed to take her on as a patient.

Dr Evans will travel to Omaha to observe Aria's rehabilitation and learn how to monitor her progress when the family returns to New Zealand.

- © Fairfax NZ News