Liver transplant boy's gift of life this Easter

Five-year-old Scott Eaton-Oliver has benefited from the life-saving skills of NHS hepatologist Professor Anil Dhawan. He and the paediatric health team at King's College Hospital in south London spent nearly seven hours on the transplant.

The result of their expert skills, used on patients from around the globe, has seen Scott rapidly restored to full health. He needs to be kept away from crowds to reduce the risk of infection for the next few months.

But, after that, he will be able to join in all the fun with his friends at Bishop Tufnell CoE Infant School in Felpham. An eight-inch scar around his waist will be the only visible reminder of his serious illness.

He said: "I was a bit scared of the operation but I feel better now."

His mum, Sarah Eaton (36), said she could not thank the health service enough for the efforts made to save Scott.

"A lot of people are quick to say the NHS is not very good. But it's certainly there for you when you need it like Scott did," she stated.

She and her partner, Andy Oliver (35), are also full of praise for St Richard's Hospital at Chichester. Its staff helped immensely in the initial stages of Scott's illness and the care needed in the first weeks of his return home.

He has an open invitation to be admitted to St Richard's if there is any cause for alarm.

Typical of the care and attention are the home visits by nurses for the regular blood tests Scott needs to save his family from having to travel to St Richard's.

The first sign that Scott was ill came on Christmas Day. He was tired after opening his presents and went to back to bed.

He continued to be tired after Christmas and developed a jaundice colour to his skin.

Eventually he was able to have his blood taken on December 31. It looked then as if he might have hepatitis A.

More blood tests at St Richard's were needed on January 4. But the diagnosis still seemed to be hepatitis A until 6pm when doctors ruled out the condition.

They wanted Scott in hospital immediately and began to talk about a transfer to King's College Hospital in south London.

At 3am the next day, Scott and his parents were in an ambulance on the way to the hospital.

"We had been there a couple of hours when we were told that there was something wrong with Scott's liver," said Mr Oliver, of Ilex Way.

"It was not functioning as it should be. His body was shutting down.

"They needed to be do more tests to find out exactly what was wrong with him."

Prof Dhawan was in constant contact with them as Scott became increasingly tired and lifeless because of his acute liver failure.

He outlined the stark options available for Scott. He had a five per cent chance of survival without a transplant but the operation would become harder the longer he was linked up to a life-saving machine. His parents agreed to the transplant.

Prof Dhawan placed Scott at the top of his transplant list at 11.30am on January 6.By 6pm, a suitable liver had been identified.

The transplant operation began at 9.30am the next day, Monday, January 7.

Ms Eaton spent the next month living at Scott's bedside in the hospital. Mr Oliver, a chef, was given the keys to a medical charity flat nearby to become his temporary home. Their younger daughter, Gemma (3), went to stay with Ms Eaton's parents.

Scott's abdomen was left open for three weeks to enable his internal swelling to subside before he was stitched up. He has been left with some of his liver in the expectation it will regenerate in the next few years and operate normally after that.

He returned home on February 19 and has continued his recovery with the help of five types of daily medicines.

The Sussex Snowdrop Trust charity has helped the couple cope with looking after Scott now he is back home.

Ms Eaton said: "Everyone has explained everything to us. They are so nice.

"If it had been 20 years ago, there is nothing anyone could have done for Scott. They would have sent us home and we would have had to get on the best we could."