Birthdays are usually a time of joy and celebration. Be it huge or simple, birthday parties, dinners or gifts would be the first thing that pops up in mind for parents to gift their kids.
But, for one dad, his gift to his toddler is beyond priceless.
Jeremy Guo was born with biliary atresia (a condition where the bile duct), which carries bile from the liver to the gall bladder are absent. It then becomes trapped, builds up and damages the liver.
His parents then noticed something was amiss when the jaundice he had as an infant hadn’t disappeared. The diagnosis was then confirmed upon blood tests and investigations.
Jeremy had a bile drainage procedure to relieve the obstruction when he was two months old. Unfortunately, it was unsuccessful. Time was running out and the only option left was a liver transplant.
Thankfully, Jeremy’s dad, Mr Huo Yang, was a suitable donor. It was a 12-hour process and procedure, but Jeremy’s family remained positive.
According to sources, over 50 surgeons, specialists, nurses and medical personnel from 13 different departments and divisions at the National University Hospital worked endlessly to transplant part of his dad’s liver into his infant son’s body.
On top of that, they also had to care for Jeremy months before and after the mammoth surgery which happened on 1 August.
The surgery was a success and little Jeremy is now healthy and doing well! And all in time for his birthday. “This is his first real birthday celebration,” expressed his delighted mum, Ms Maggie Yu, on the day her child turned two.
“Everyone has done all they can; the rest is up to him,” added his proud father.
Source: The Straits Times