Boy, eight, now ‘allergic to the sun’ after five organ transplants

A young lad is now allergic to the sun following a life-long health battle that resulted in him needing five organ transplants.

Patrick Askham, from Leeds, was born with Gastroschisis, a condition where a baby’s intestines and other organs are found outside their body, reports LeedsLive.

While it only takes a fairly standard procedure to treat, eight-year-old Patrick has faced medical complications throughout his life.

His bowels were matted, and his body rejected them, meaning he had to be fed through a tube in his heart.

READ MORE: Woman who 'didn't wee for 14 months' rushed to A&E after reaching 'breaking point'

The plucky lad got his first bowel transplant at eight-years-old, but due to the complications from the heart feed his other organs began to rot.

He then had to get four more organ transplants, including a new liver.

His mum, Michelle, told LeedsLive that he now has to stay indoors because of his condition. She said: "His immunosuppression from the first transplant made him allergic to the sun, so he reacts in hot weather and heat.

“So we thought we would just do the garden with him, stop him sitting in the four same walls, and thought he could enjoy the outside in, we don’t get to go on big holidays, we just stay at home and make do with the garden, we made the garden beautiful for the kids.

“We used to have to be home and give him regimented medicines, we just cancelled another holiday because of the transplant, it’s just about making home the best."

Despite his medical condition, Michelle, 37, said that Patrick never feels sorry for himself.

“He is just a normal, eight-year-old boy that wants to play and get dirty and get into mischief and kick a ball around and just be normal, he doesn’t let any of this affect him, he really is a real-life superhero," she said.

“We don’t mollycoddle him, this is how he is, how he was born, how he grew up.

“We don’t see him as a poorly child, he’s just a normal boy and this is the hand he has been dealt."

In a bid to make his life better, the family are now looking to create a little house in the garden so that he doesn't have to stay inside throughout the summer. Michelle says the family are not looking for any donations but are hoping someone might be able to help them out.

"We are not asking for anyone to donate us anything, I would prefer to use a local company, it’s just financially too much,” Michelle said.

Patrick's journey can be seen on his Facebook page here.

READ NEXT:

  • Met Office warn of 'snow on Sunday' as weather maps show where it's coming
  • Locals near 'UK's most bonkers wiggly road markings' baffled by new 'Wizard of Oz path'
  • Diver 'swallowed whole' by great white shark recounts horror as beast ate him alive

Source: Read Full Article

Previous post Andrew Lloyd Webber shares heartbreaking update on his sons battle with cancer
Next post Martin Lewis confirmed as regular co-host on Good Morning Britain