Public thanked as 700 offer kidney to sick boy, 12

Kind-hearted members of the public who have offered to donate their kidneys to a sick 12-year-old boy have been praised for their generosity.

Leeds City Council said around 700 people had responded to an appeal it put out last week to help a child in its care, who is in desperate need of a transplant.

Jack - not his real name - was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease when he was just 10 months old and has spent much of his childhood in hospital.

He has been on the transplant waiting list since 2019, but has yet to receive a match.

Janine Craven, the council's manager of children's services, said a new kidney for Jack was "so important" and would give him a "new chance of having a normal adolescence".

She said: "We've been absolutely overwhelmed by the positive response we've received and the generosity and kindness that's been shown by the public."

Jack recently had to change to a new form of kidney dialysis which requires him to attend a clinical setting three times a week for several hours at a time.

Ms Craven added: "That's impacting on his ability to attend school regularly, see his friends and obviously we want him to have the best possible chance (in life). A new kidney would do that for him."

Jack, who enjoys building Lego, chatting to his friends and watching YouTube, has been desperately asking those around him for updates on efforts to find a matching kidney.

Those identified as potentially capable of donating their kidney to Jack will be put through rigorous health tests to ensure their own bodies are able to cope with the loss of a major organ.

Councillor Helen Hayden, executive member for children and families, said the local authority had expected around "half a dozen" volunteers to come forward when the appeal was first put out.

She said: "My mind has been blown when I heard the news that so many hundreds of people have been n touch, even from as far away as Australia, to help someone they've never met, never will meet and is a stranger to them."

"It speaks to something about human nature and how people are essentially good."

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