Roared on by the crowd, a girl who had both kidneys removed takes part in a race weeks after walking for the first time.
Mia Mifsud, three, who had a transplant and battled five bouts of sepsis , was the youngest competitor at the British Transplant Games.
Her mum Danielle, 34, said watching her cross the finish line in the 25-metre race for under-fives was “very special”.
She added: “It showed how far she has come and what a determined little girl she is.
“I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.”
Mia was born with a rare condition – autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease – that made her kidneys become much too large.
It caused life-threatening complications such as a mini-stroke and severe breathing and digestive problems.
She had one kidney removed aged six weeks and the second at 12 weeks.
She spent two years on dialysis until she was able to receive a kidney from dad Dion last August.
Danielle said: “We had to wait for her to put on weight before they could go ahead with the operation.
“She has been through so much since the transplant.
“We feared her life was in serious danger after she repeatedly developed sepsis but she has continued to pull through.”
As a baby, Mia was flown from her home in Gibraltar to London for treatment at Evelina Children’s Hospital.
She has not been well enough to return but the family hope they can go home this year.
Mirror boy Max Johnson, 11, was guest of honour at the World Transplant Games in Newcastle yesterday.
He honked the horn to start the 5km race and took part in another of the events.
Max, of Winsford, Cheshire, fronted the Mirror’s victorious Change the Law for Life campaign – from 2020 all adults in England will be classed as having agreed to be organ donors unless they opt out.
