Leicestershire teenager receives kidney from mother and father in separate operations

A boy from Leicestershire has received a donor kidney from both his mother and father, in two separate operations.

McKenzie Norris-Barnett was born in 2005, and doctors soon discovered neither of his kidneys were working properly.

At the time he was given just a five per cent chance of survival - but that's when his parents stepped in.

As a child in 2009, he received a transplant from his mother Jade at Great Ormond Street Hospital - but four years ago that failed, leaving McKenzie facing a life on dialysis.

Now, after a four-year process, his father Jeremy has donated a kidney to his son, in an operation at Leicester's Glenfield Hospital.

After numerous tests, the pair underwent surgery last month.

The procedure lasted five hours, with both McKenzie and his dad being operated on side-by-side in the same operating theatre.

"It's life-changing"

McKenzie says he hopes the new donor kidney will mean the end to up to 16 hours of dialysis a week.

He told ITV News Central about the day-to-day health challenges he has faced since having the first parental transplant.

He says: "My daily routine would be wake up at 6am, get ready for 7am, go to dialysis for four hours, come home, go to sleep, wake up, have food, and then go back to sleep".

His father Jez who lives in Thringstone, says he's glad the lengthy transplant process is now over for his son.

Jez says: "They opened up me first. Then they opened up McKenzie just to make sure. Checked all the vessels to see if they could take my kidney.

"They did the keyhole surgery, went in and took my kidney and put it in McKenzie.

"As soon as I came around I asked the nurse straight away: 'Has it worked? Has it worked?' and she was like "Yes".'

"I can't wait to take him home"

Jez says: "It's been hard going to the hospital week in and week out... I'm very grateful to this new unit looking after us both.

"I can't wait to take him home, and he can eat with the other kids, and eat what he wants to eat ... He always wants something different but now he can eat what the others are eating".

"It's your kid at the end of the day. I'd give my other organs if I have to. If they need anything - it's kids first isn't it. Standard. It's what you do".

McKenzie will still need regular checks in the coming weeks and months to monitor his progress.

He, his family and doctors in Leicester are hoping that his body doesn't reject the new kidney. He and his dad Jez thanked surgeon Dr Atul Bagul who performed the operation.

Dr Bagul says: "This should give him a very good quality of life and a significant improvement in his longevity of life. Had we not been able to do this transplant, it would have reduced his life by about 50%.

"With this successful transplant, we should get it right up to 90%, so this is a very good outcome from his point of view".

McKenzie is now considering a future career as a dialysis nurse, as he is now well-versed in the procedures and technology used to treat him.

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