A desperate mother’s chat room appeal saved her five-year-old daughter’s life
Thus, every day, we see and hear the news that someone in some part of the world has made some record, sometimes in a sports competition, sometimes by doing something unique at a young age. But five-year-old ‘Destiny Ray’ has also created a record. Destiny was just ten months old when her kidneys stopped working properly, requiring her to undergo dialysis at Great Ormond Street Hospital in the UK, a painful procedure at such a young age. She became the youngest person in the world.
Destiny had to go to the hospital three times a week for five-hour dialysis sessions. Thus, counting the days and time spent on dialysis, Destiny spent almost six months of her life on the machine, another new hospital record for the longest time ever for a child so young. We were walking through the machines in the hospital.
Despite being on the kidney transplant waiting list for years, Destiny’s wait was too long for many reasons. In general, when it comes to kidney transplants, people from the same family are more likely to have blood and tissue matches and can donate in most cases.
But no one in Destinee’s family was able to donate a kidney to her, and the national organ shortage, particularly of donors from ethnic minorities, added to her difficulties. In desperation, Destiny’s mother, Maria, appealed for help in a chat room. Destiny’s mother tells her story to everyone there, after which she meets ‘Guardian Angel’ Leafy.
Liffey agreed to donate a kidney under the ‘Special Organ Transplant Scheme.’ Leffy expressed his desire to donate a kidney to Destiny, but due to a blood sample and tissue mismatch, they could not help him.
But in the midst of all this, Destiny was given a kidney, but Leffy’s, instead of another stranger. Maria, Destiny, and Liffey told researchers to film the case as they learned that the NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT), run with the help of the UK Living Kidney Sharing Scheme, has succeeded. Still, the reason for doing so will also help such parents looking for a kidney for their child.
You can never force someone to donate a kidney voluntarily because it’s an operation that you don’t need. So, keeping all this in mind, I also understood myself. He said, ‘If you think about it, it is not common; it is not all that simple.
What motivated me to help?
Without a kidney transplant, Destiny’s future was uncertain. “Sadly, this was his life,” says Maria. ‘It was sad to see other children get the chance to play and enjoy life, but not Denise. But they are powerful, intelligent, and determined, and I find courage and strength in seeing them.
