Leland (Chris Nelson/KXAN)
AUSTIN (KXAN) — A 5-year-old boy being treated at Dell Children’s Medical Center is in urgent need of a kidney transplant.
Leland (Chris Nelson/KXAN)
Seton Healthcare Family says the patient, Leland, is now a status 5 transplant patient, the highest and most urgent category of patients needing a new organ. They say Leland has been on dialysis most of his young life and recently went through a “last-ditch attempt” graft for his dialysis. Seton says that will eventually fail, leaving a kidney transplant as his only option.
A representative for the hospital says Leland knows he needs a transplant and he’s ready. He knows he can’t eat or swim like other kids, the rep. adds, and when his foster mother drives him past a water park he points to it and says, “I’m going there when I get my kidney.”
Finding a match, even from someone who has passed away, has been difficult, because of his immune system. Leland’s surgeon, former UT Chancellor Dr. Francisco Cigarroa, says, “The other option is a living donor. A kidney from a living donor is healthier, lasts longer and gives recipient success.”
You can contact the Dell Children’s Medical Center at (512) 324-0000
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