Calling out for a hero

Joshua, who has also been diagnosed with autism, is on the waiting list for a kidney transplant. The medical advice is clear: “The hospital say the best chance Joshua has is to get a live kidney donation."

What lengths would you go to in an effort to alleviate the suffering of your child? Mary Dolan is following up every avenue to find a way of improving the life of her child Joshua, however her eight year old is in a dire situation.

“Just over a month ago my son, Joshua, was diagnosed with stage four kidney failure. It was ongoing for over a year and a half. In that time, we have had to repeatedly bring him for hospital appointments,” said Mary, who is original from Kilcogy, but calls Enniskillen home for the last 15 years. She tells the Celt: “You always go back to your roots.”

The mother of two is putting out a call for a live kidney donor for her child. Joshua has only one kidney. This kidney is failing and currently only operates at 16% of its capacity. “When his kidney function reaches under 12%, he will be put on dialysis. He's very sick and needs weekly hospital visits for bloods tests and many other things,” Mary explains.

There is a considerable medical regime to be followed: “He's on a lot of medication and weekly injections. It's heartbreaking for me, as a mum, to look at him going through so much pain. We live in Enniskillen but we have to travel to Belfast hospital for some of the treatment.”

Joshua, who has also been diagnosed with autism, is on the waiting list for a kidney transplant. The medical advice is clear: “The hospital say the best chance Joshua has is to get a live kidney donation. This is where someone donates their kidney for my son,” she explained.

“Some of our family members have put themselves forward for but there is no match. I don't have a big family. I am appealing for someone to please consider donating a kidney to save his life. He's only a child, he shouldn't have to be dealing with the prospect of having a transplant.

“You can live a perfectly normal life with one kidney and recovery is relatively quick. If anyone would consider to be an organ donor for my son they can contact the living donor team in Belfast. We pray he gets a kidney soon,” Mary tells the Celt.

In the last month since his diagnosis, Joshua has been getting on with his life: “He wants to live a normal life of an eight year old, but his condition is stopping him. Joshua is on an awful lot of medication. I've had to stop work to care for my son. It's been very hard and it will only get worse and, until they find a new kidney, this will be our life for now.”

Mary says has put out the appeal on social media: "We have a gofundme page up, but really what we want is to get a new kidney for Joshua. We are just putting an appeal out there for someone to please help."

If you can help out Joshua, click here.