Thanks to an incredibly selfless act, a 25-year old woman saved the life of her dying baby nephew.
Sophie Hughes flew 10,000 miles from Australia to the UK to donate part of her kidney to baby Oscar, who was born last October with biliary atresia – where the main bile duct from the liver does not form properly.
Oscar was very ill, and there wasn’t time for him to wait to receive a liver transplant. A live donation became his only hope.
Sophie, who is sister to Oscar’s dad Anthony, immediately stepped up, flying home straight away to donate part of her liver.
And thankfully the operation was a success, with both baby and loving aunt recovering well.
“We will be for ever thankful,” Oscar’s mum Kerry told Mail Online. “It is amazing Sophie flew 10,000 miles to save him.”
And Sophie is proud of the extra special bond she now shares with her baby nephew.
“My scar is like a badge of honour, and even though I'm half a world away, a little piece of me is with Oscar,” Sophie told Mail Online from Sydney.
Sophie is supporting the Yellow Alert campaign, endeavouring to make parents more aware of the symptoms of liver disease in babies. For more visit childliverdisease.org.
