As birthday presents go, this was pretty memorable – and life-saving – for little Daisy-May Crosby.
Just days from her sixth birthday, the youngster was in hospital awaiting a new kidney when an 11th hour test found mum Hayley was a perfect match.
Doctors removed Hayley’s kidney in a six-hour operation.
Then, in another part of the hospital, it was transplanted into Daisy-May.
The remarkable procedure – on December 22 – ended 18 months of anguish during which the family feared the worst.
Hayley, 30, says: “I’m Daisy-May’s mum, it’s my job to protect her.
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“I’m glad it was me who had the surgery, it felt right.”
Hayley says the family endured “18 months of hell” after Daisy-May suddenly fell ill on a family holiday to Portugal in June 2019.
Hayley says: “She was really sick, physically sick. It was so unlike her. When we got home, she kept having nosebleeds.”
In October 2019 Daisy-May was diagnosed with kidney failure. She was taken by ambulance from Milton Keynes, Bucks, to Evelina Children’s Hospital in London, where Hayley and husband Sheldon spent two weeks training to use a dialysis machine at home.
Hayley adds: “The plan was that within a year she’d have a transplant.
"It was no life for a four-year-old, on dialysis. She couldn’t play freely like her friends, she had to be careful as she had a tube in her stomach.
"At the time, I was pregnant so I couldn’t donate my kidney and Sheldon wasn’t a match.
“So we planned to use the paired donor scheme, meaning he would give his kidney to another child and their family would give one to Daisy-May.”
Hayley gave birth to Lily in December 2019 but, in March 2020, hopes of a transplant were dashed when Covid hit and the pairing scheme was suspended.
Things became critical in September when Daisy-May suffered an infection and was rushed to hospital.
Hayley admits: “We were so scared – we could see her health was declining. I didn’t know how long we could go on for.”
Hayley decided to have a donor match test – and turned out to be perfect.
On December 22 they were admitted to Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in London.
Because of Covid, Daisy-May faced surgery alone.
Hayley recalls: “I FaceTimed Daisy-May before they took me down to theatre. I thought she’d be nervous but she was really excited.
“I’d made her a box which had photos of us together and a Polaroid camera so she could take pictures of the day.”
On Christmas Day, Hayley was discharged and reunited with Lily, while Sheldon, a mechanical engineer, isolated in a hospital room with Daisy-May.
A day later Daisy-May’s room was filled with dozens of balloons and she unwrapped presents that Sheldon, 33, had hidden in his case.
Finally, on January 8, the family was reunited at home – and Daisy-May couldn’t wait to get better. Hayley chuckles: “Daisy-May treated it like a competition – who would be the first to eat, who would be the first to walk. She beat me to everything!”
Sheldon says: “She’s so energetic, it’s like we’ve got our Daisy-May back.”
Sheldon is cycling 850 miles to raise £850 for Kidney Research UK. You can donate to his JustGiving page here.
