Teenager forced to travel 8,000 miles to Bristol for urgent kidney transplant

ITV West Country's Victoria Davies sits down with Nick Chater who needs a new kidney

A teenager who is waiting in Bristol for an urgent kidney transplant is urging more people to become organ donors.

Nick Chater's father donated his kidney to him when he was four - but now the 16-year-old is in urgent need of another transplant.

He has been forced to move 8,000 miles from The Falklands to Bristol for the treatment but has been waiting seven months for a donor.

It’s because Bristol Children’s Hospital is the closest medical facility which can carry out a transplant.

Nick left his mother and his brother behind, needs dialysis for eight hours every night, and has to take medication throughout the day.

He said: "If you become an organ donor you will change someone's life. That's it.

"You will allow them to live."

Tom Chater, Nick’s dad, has said he wants his son to be able to live a "normal life".

He said: "He had his first transplant when he was four and for the last decade we've been nursing it along.

"It's the thing we want most of all is to give Nick a transplant and for him to be able to move ahead with his life."

Nick is one of 230 children waiting for a donor, which NHS Blood and Transplant is keen to highlight.

Angie Scales, lead nurse for paediatric donation, said: “Children that are waiting it's an incredibly difficult time for them.

“The normal life we all know is put on hold. They spend a lot of time in hospital, they may miss a lot of schooling.

“Transplants don't happen without organ donation so it’s really important to think about organ donation.

“Think about it for yourselves, your children, and that's the thing that will make a difference for families waiting for that call.”

Nick dreams of returning home to his family in The Falkland Islands and one day becoming a pilot.