10,000th liver transplant performed in the UK

Main Category: Transplants / Organ Donations
Article Date: 12 Aug 2004 - 1:00 PDT


James Watson, 54, has made history as the 10,000th patient to receive a liver transplant to be registered on the UK Transplant Database.

The father of three was given just weeks to live before surgeon Mr Paul Gibbs and his team carried out the six hour operation at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, last month.

James left hospital within 14 days of the transplant operation and is recovering at home in Newark, Nottinghamshire, where he lives with his wife Mandy, 43.

A retired furnaceman at a Midlands engineering company, James said: "I was very ill and they told me I only had a few weeks to live without a transplant. I had no idea that there is such a critical shortage of donated organs until I discovered that, without one, I would be dead soon.

"It was a heck of a shock to find that my life would end unless someone somewhere took the decision that they would allow organ donation."

James's liver was irreparably damaged by drugs he was prescribed to control chronic rheumatoid arthritis.

A father of two daughters and a son and a grandfather of five, he was placed on the transplant register in late June. Adult patients normally wait about 60 days for a liver transplant but a match was found for James in just 15 days.

He said: "I feel fantastic now - and incredibly lucky to have an organ donated to me so quickly. I can eat properly again and walk without getting puffed out. I am looking forward to a whole new life.

"I couldn't believe that it happened so fast. The whole thing seems a bit of a blur - the liver failure and being put on the transplant list and then the operation. It's fantastic.

"I will always be grateful to the donor. All I know is that he was a 37-year-old man who died in the south of England. He has given me my life back.

"I can't wait to get back on the golf course or out fishing again but I have to take it easy for a few months."

Mr Gibbs said: "Mr Watson has done very well following his transplant. His successful progress is typical of liver transplantation today, emphasising how much has been achieved since the pioneering days of Sir Roy Calne in Cambridge in the late 1960s.

"We must always remember that we remain indebted to the selfless acts of donor families, who think of others at times of great sadness in their lives."

UK Transplant's Medical Director Chris Rudge said: "We wish Mr Watson the very best of success in his new life. This is a fantastic milestone. 10,000 liver transplants represents the enormous commitment of the UK's liver transplant surgeons.

"The results speak for themselves and emphasise again the need for people to think about organ donation, join the NHS Organ Donor Register and talk to their family and friends about their wishes."

Survival rates after liver transplantation are now very high. Improvements in surgical techniques and aftercare mean that today 84% of liver transplant recipients survive more than one year and 67% for more than five years.

The highest number of liver transplants performed in any one year was in 2002 when surgeons at the eight liver transplant centres around the UK carried out a total of 701 transplants. So far this year (from 1 April 2004) 218 liver transplants have been performed including 33 on people under 18.

There are currently 236 people including 28 under 18s listed for a liver transplant.

The critical shortage of donated organs for transplant, including livers, means that patients are only registered for transplant when they are seriously ill.

Anyone can join the NHS Organ Donor Register by telephoning the Organ Donor Line on 0845 60 60 400 or by visiting http://www.uktransplant.org.uk/ukt/default.jsp .

A picture is available to download by clicking here.

Picture Caption: James Watson holds the certificate commemorating his historic liver transplant operation with surgeon Mr Paul Gibbs and transplant co-ordinator Ingela Oberg.

For further information contact UK Transplant press office on 0117 975 7470 or Emma Oram, Press Officer, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust on 01223 274433.

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