The Crossan Family, Otago
Hamish Crossan and his Mum Tracey have spent 117 nights with us since first arriving at the Ronald McDonald House Auckland in June 2007.
Hamish was born with biliary atresia, a condition where the bile duct between the liver and the small intestine isn’t formed, and was in need of a new liver. Thankfully, after a few months of rigorous testing, Hamish’s Mum was confirmed as a donor match.
Hamish underwent his liver transplant at just 5 1/2 months old — as you can see in the photo, he was a very sick little chap. This made Hamish the youngest liver transplant recipient in New Zealand. Not only this, his Mum was the first mother in New Zealand to donate a liver to her own child. Both underwent surgery at Starship in July where Tracey gave Hamish part of her liver to replace his failing one.
Given that 95% of liver transplants will be rejected in the first 3 months, Hamish is somewhat of a miracle having recovered exceptionally well since his operation and has just celebrated his 2nd birthday on February 13th, joined by new baby brother Ryan.
Looking ahead to the future, there is every reason Hamish will be able to enjoy a healthy, normal life. He will need to remain on immune suppressants daily for the rest of life so his body doesn’t reject his liver and will just need to be that extra bit careful whenever he catches a bug or infection.
The Crossan family are due to make another visit to Ronald McDonald House Auckland and Starship in early 2009 — but thankfully only to enable the liver team at Starship to assess Hamish’s progress and ensure he is happy and healthy, this will mean at least an annual visit for all of his childhood. Needless to say we will welcome them back with open arms!
