Father donates liver and bowel to save son in rare transplant
Gary Jackson gave part of his liver and bowel to his six-year-old son Harry in a rare transplant, the second such operation in the UK.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
A father has donated part of his liver and bowel to save his six-year-old son in an extremely rare transplant operation. Gary Jackson underwent a 17-hour procedure at King's College Hospital in London to help his son Harry, who was born with a malrotation of the bowel, a condition that can cut off the blood supply. Harry also developed liver disease after years of being fed intravenously to manage his condition.
Gary spent 18 months preparing for the operation, living on a strict diet of chicken, rice and water, and losing six stone. He was found to be a 98% match with his son. The combined liver and bowel transplant is so rare that doctors say only around 10 children worldwide are known to have undergone it. Harry's operation is only the second such living donor transplant to be carried out in the UK.
The family had been struggling before the transplant, with Harry spending weeks at a time in hospital. Gary described the moment they were told the operation could go ahead as "pure relief and joy". Harry is now due to start school next week for the first time, something his parents had feared he might never do. Gary said he hopes the operation will be what he is remembered for, and Harry, when asked what he wants to be when he grows up, said he wants to be a dad like his father.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
| Claim | Channel 5 |
|---|---|
| Gary Jackson donated part of his liver and bowel to his son Harry. | |
| The transplant operation took 17 hours at King's College Hospital in London. | |
| The transplant was only the second such operation performed in the UK. |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
The channel focused on the emotional human interest angle, highlighting the father's sacrifice and the family's relief. It also stressed the rarity of the operation and the father's strict preparation. The report ended with a brief unrelated breaking news item about a rescue in Nepal, which was not part of this story.
- “When they finally said that we could go ahead with that, yeah, just pure relief and joy, that we could give him another option because we were running out.”
- “Yeah, for 18 months I lived on chicken and rice and water. No soft drinks, no Cokes, no Lucassades, no alcohol, no beer, which was a tough one for me.”
- “Just for me to be able to give the hospital the opportunity to go and do what they've been able to do is, yeah, it'll be with me forever and it'll be what everyone remembers me for, hopefully.”
Broadcast Timeline
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