Sunny – Liver recipient
“It’s not part of the handbook. When you decide to have kids, you think life will be easy, happy and normal. When this diagnosis came through, we were learning on the job. What’s this condition? What does it all mean?”
At 10 weeks old, Sunny was diagnosed with biliary atresia, a rare inflammatory condition affecting new-born babies, that causes a blockage in the bile ducts, the narrow tubes that transport bile to the gallbladder and small intestine.
Sunny’s procedure to bypass the failing bile ducts was unfortunately unsuccessful, and she urgently needed a liver transplant.
While a donor was found, Sunny suffered post-transplant complications and the transplant failed. Doctors put Sunny back on the waitlist.
“I’ll never forget the stress,” says her father, Trent. “It was just, ‘Sh*t, are we going to lose her? How’s this going to go?’ The second time, it was panic stations looking for a donor.”
Fortunately, Sunny received a second liver transplant within weeks and made it home for her third birthday. She is now nine years old and enjoying life as a typical kid. Sport is her favourite school activity.
“I think her sister walked about six months earlier than her. She was so, so delayed, but now she’s bigger than her twin and winning races at school. It’s like we’ve come full circle,” Trent says. “We’re very lucky.”
