The Australian government is now operating in accordance with the Guidance on Caretaker Conventions, pending the outcome of the 2025 federal election.
A young, energetic and playful boy, many would find it hard to believe that 4 year old Cairo underwent a life-changing surgery when he was only 3.
Cairo was born with Posterior Urethral Valves (PUV), which was not detected during mum Laura’s pregnancy. The PUV meant Cairo could not urinate while in the womb, causing his bladder to expand and put backwards pressure on his kidneys that caused severe damage.
At 6 months old, Cairo started dialysis and he was waitlisted for kidneys when he turned one.
The last couple of years have been full of ups and downs with Cairo experiencing a lot of vomiting and pain.
“He vomited his entire life which meant constant monitoring and around-the-clock feeding from a nasal gastric tube, this meant no real sleep for any of us until he was able to get a transplant,” Laura said.
“Cairo was on the waitlist for almost 2 years. His health was by far the largest hurdle – he got bone disease from not having the appropriate nutrition because of his kidney disease, which meant he didn’t walk until he was almost 3.”
When their family received the call that a kidney had become available thanks to a generous donor and their family, a little celebration party that Cairo’s life was about to be saved was in order.
“We get calls from the hospital like 10 times a month and we waited for 2 years so when we saw the No Caller ID, we assumed it was the hospital updating us or giving us a new appointment. We were all at home together and Cairo was at daycare – when we got the call, we had a little party and drove straight to daycare to pick Cairo up.”
When Cairo recovered and was well enough to travel and live like a 4 year old again, the first order of business was to bring him to Disneyland in America.
Laura shares that organ donation has been a life-saving gift for Cairo and their family. “Cairo’s quality of life has improved and we’re so glad to have him here.”
“By registering to be an organ donor, you’re not just saving one life, you could be saving 7 other lives.”
