A MAN who donated part of his liver to save the life of his baby grandson has been nominated for a York Community Pride Award.
Last year, Naburn toddler Owen Targett, now 20 months old, was seriously ill with the potentially fatal rare liver disease biliary atresia and his parents had been told he was unlikely to survive beyond 18 months without a transplant.
He was on the waiting list for a liver transplant, but doctors had been unable to find a suitable match until his granddad John volunteered to become a living donor.
John was found to be a match and donated about 40 per cent of his liver to his grandson in a lengthy operation last November.
Now his son, James, and daughter-in-law, Fleur, have nominated him for the Parent Of The Year category, sponsored by Barnitts, and nominated Owen for Child Of The Year for his cheerfulness and bravery even when he was very unwell.
Fleur said: “What John has done means everything to us. There are not really any words because it’s such a huge thing. He saved us all really.
“Before the operation John has also looked after our daughter Kinvara and us when Owen has been in hospital. He has been amazing – when we have phoned in a panic, he dropped everything.
“He has kept the house running and made sure our little girl was loved and cared for. He has made sure we had food and kept us going with moral support and love.
“Owen is doing really well now. He is really small for his age but is very healthy. Doctors said without a transplant Owen would not make it to 18 months, but he is now at 20 months and is doing so well. John has saved his life.”
Fleur said Owen’s inspirational bravery and loving nature had also kept the family going.
“He was born with the rare liver disease and had to have an operation at 31 days. He has undergone lots of tests and stays in hospital. At one point he had a feeding tube in.
“He has been so calm through everything.
“At least 25 people we know have signed up to become organ donors because of Owen. He has been so lovely and has shown how much of a difference blood and organ donation can make.
“We are lucky to have him and so proud of him.”
Entries to the Community Pride Awards have now closed. The shortlist will be announced next month.
Good luck to all
ENTRIES for the Community Pride Awards have now closed. But not before we received one more extraordinary nomination.
When Naburn toddler Owen Targett became ill last year with a potentially fatal liver disease, his grandad John came to the rescue. He volunteered as a living donor – and in a lengthy operation gave Owen 40 per cent of his own liver.
Both Owen and John are now doing well. And both have been nominated for awards by Owen’s parents James and Fleur: Owen as Child of the Year, John as parent of the year.
It is stories such as this that the Community Pride awards are all about.
We have a host of deserving nominees. They’re all winners in our book. So good luck to all!
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