Dad's gift of life to daughter (From Daily Echo)

Dad's gift of life to daughter

3:26pm Wednesday 30th December 2009 in

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LITTLE Phoebe Manley will receive the ultimate gift of life in 2010. The 21- month-old toddler is currently being taken to Southampton General Hospital three times a week for life-saving dialysis.

But her father, Lee, has a matching blood type so this coming year he will donate one of his kidneys to save the life of his child.

Mum Mel, 27, said news that he is a match for his daughter was greeted with huge relief.

“At last it will mean we can have a life with our daughter that will approach some level of normality,”

she said.

Ever since their daughter was born, the Manley’s home life has been thrown into chaos and their eldest daughter, Libby, five, has had to adjust to seeing less of her mum.

“It has been really tough. To be able to manage with what has happened to us as a family, Lee has had to spend more time with Libby, while I have been with Phoebe.

“It has not been easy but at least when she has the transplant we can all just carry on as a normal family once again,” she said.

Before Phoebe was even born there were worrying signs. Medical experts realised there was little amniotic fluid surrounding the baby in her mother’s womb and the decision was taken to induce her ahead of the date she was due to be born.

“Phoebe had small lungs and no kidney function when she was born.

“She was ventilated immediately and stayed on the neo-natal unit for seven weeks,”

explained Mel.

Phoebe was then transferred to a kidney unit where she was to remain for the next ten-months.

The Manley family had to move house to accommodate their baby daughter’s medical needs and it was a true milestone for Mel and Lee when they were finally able to bring little Phoebe home.

“It was so important to be able to bring her home – even though we still spend so much time at the hospital,”

she said.

Phoebe needs dialysis three times a week to stay alive. Each session takes five hours and Mel is by her side throughout.

Phoebe also has very poor eyesight and doctors won’t know the scale of the problem until she is old enough to tell them what she can see.

“The blindness is a separate issue but we will just have to wait and see what the outcome will be.

“She’s such a smiley little girl that people can’t believe there is anything wrong with her at all,” said Mel.

The new year means more medical tests to ensure the kidney transplant from father to daughter can go ahead and in the meantime Phoebe must gain weight before the major operation.

“She has already had 20 operations but she must weigh 10 kilos for this particular procedure to go ahead.

“She is fed through a pump in her belly and we are hopeful she will reach the target weight soon,” she said.

Waiting for the longed-for operation to go ahead, Mel admitted she did have some fears as it will mean both her husband and daughter going under the knife.

“Lee feels good about it because he will be doing something so important for Phoebe but I am a bit more nervous,”

admitted Mel.

Looking ahead to 2010, Mel said she was excited about the year ahead and the progress that can be made.

“We have been on an amazing journey together. It has made us really strong.

“People ask how we have coped and we say we had to do it for our children.

“I can honestly say nothing fazes me any more because we’ve been through so much together,” she said.