There are two reasons Charlie O’Sullivan is alive today – and his mother is both of them.
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Not only did Sally O’Sullivan give birth to the little boy, she has also saved his life by giving Charlie one of her kidneys.
Now – as one of Australia’s youngest kidney transplant recipients – Charlie, 5, will join hundreds of people on Saturday for a twilight stroll as part of the second annual Glow Walk to create organ donor awareness.
Charlie, of Morpeth, was just 16 months old when he underwent the transplant with his mother being the live donor.
“Charlie was born with renal failure and his kidneys weren’t functioning so when he was three weeks old we found out he would need a transplant,” Mrs O’Sullivan, 40, said.
“And he was certainly one of the youngest recipients at the time but the surgeons were more concerned about his weight. They like children to be 10
kilograms but Charlies was just over eight kilos.”
Charlie now takes immunosuppression medication morning and night and is able to play soccer, go skateboarding and attend school.
“About three weeks before the transplant I got the go ahead to be Charlie’s donor and I still get emotional just thinking about it,” Mrs O’Sullivan said.
“It was such a privilege to be able to do that because there are situations where this sort of thing isn’t possible. We’ve been incredibly lucky.”
Charlie will need another kidney transplant in the future and organ rejection remains an ongoing concern, but the O’Sullivans are optimistic.
“Charlie has gone from strength to strength, he is a picture of health and his future is incredibly bright,” Mrs O’Sullivan said.
Researchers from the Newcastle Transplant Unit are leading investigations into organ transplant tolerance.
“For those patients with strong acceptor responses we are testing whether immunosuppression can be reduced or even withdrawn in a controlled manner to minimise the adverse effects related to the medication,” Professor Adrian Hibberd, Emeritus Consultant in Transplantation with Hunter New England Health, said.
n The Glow Walk will be held along Nobbys Breakwall at 5pm. Registrations will be accepted on the day or via the Hunter Transplant Research website at www.htrf.net.au