Boy enjoys first Christmas since organ transplant

A four-year-old boy who inspired a national organ donation campaign is to celebrate his first Christmas at home since receiving a new liver and bowel.

Ralph, from Epping in Essex, was diagnosed with a rare form of liver cancer in May last year and waited six months for the life-changing operation.

He was part of the NHS Waiting to Live campaign, which highlighted the hundreds of children waiting for a transplant.

His mother, Katie, told BBC London: "By saying yes to organ donation, you are quite literally saving a child's life."

Ralph had the transplant last December and spent the festive season in hospital.

"This time last Christmas, we didn't know if it'd be his last Christmas and now... He's had a whole year of being Ralph, seeing his brother grow up," his mum said.

"We've enjoyed him for a whole extra year and we've got to have another Christmas this year."

In the UK, there are more than 7,800 people waiting for an organ transplant, NHS figures show. This includes 280 children.

The Waiting to Live campaign involved hundreds of dolls - including one of Ralph - representing children waiting for organ donors being placed in hospital waiting rooms across the UK to highlight the issue.

Olive McGowan, chief nurse at NHS Blood and Transplant, said: "Last year we had about 1,500 deceased organ donors and 40 of them are children.

"There is a huge disparity between the numbers of children waiting and the number of organ donors we have who are children every year."

Ms McGowan urged parents to speak to their families and "consider donation for their children and for themselves should they be in a situation where organ donation would be a possibility".

Katie said the extra life Ralph's transplant had offered him had been "just incredible", and added that parents who opted for children to be donors "are actually saying yes for another child to have a chance to live".

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