A young boy who was blue lighted to hospital just days after he was born is "always smiling" despite being diagnosed with a life-long condition.
When Elliot Birchall was born on April 5, 2018, he was experiencing "issues with feeding". During his time at Whiston hospital, mum Kirsty said they discovered he had lost 12% of his body weight but staff "couldn't figure out what was wrong."
The mum-of-four said he was blue-lighted to Alder Hey Hospital and sent straight to the high dependency unit and at six-days old they were given a life-changing diagnosis. Elliot had bilateral renal dysplasia as his kidneys did not develop in the womb and so both of his kidneys are "half the size they should be."
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Kirsty added that despite having kidney failure and chronic kidney disease, her son is always smiling and is "very resilient" as he "never shows he is unwell." This means the young boy will need a kidney transplant to "prolong his life", which the family are on their way to getting.
She told the ECHO: "It's mad to think of where he was then to now, he was so poorly when he got to hospital and was put straight on the high dependency unit. Now, he's fed through a Mic-key button because he doesn't eat much. He has a very limited diet, mainly down to sensory issues as well so he's mainly fed overnight through a pump."
A Mic-Key button is a low-profile tube that allows children to receive nutrition, fluids, and medicine directly into the stomach. Kirsty said: "You just have to get on with it. He was at Alder Hey for three months before being allowed home but we've still been back and to from the hospital like a yo-yo."
It is hoped Elliot will be getting a transplant in the next year or two which won't "cure his condition, just prolong his life as long as we can." The St Helens mum added: "Every day is a blessing. We take it one day at a time. A lot of people are shocked to find out he's so sick because he never shows he's unwell.
"With chronic kidney disease, you never know where you stand. It was a shock, we didn't expect it, it wasn't picked up on any scans so it came out of the blue."
As a very special surprise, back in August last year, Kirsty contacted Love Quilts UK which is a group of volunteers who cross stitch squares to be made into a quilt for children who have life-long illnesses. These are made by dedicated volunteers across the world and this year, Elliot received his.
The 29-year-old, who thanked the worldwide volunteers for their amazing gift, said: "I joined a Facebook Page one day with people who make squares and I came across the website to apply for a quilt. Each square had Elliot's favourite things, he absolutely loves it."
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