Haywards Heath toddler’s liver transplant ‘the best gift we could have hoped for’

Little Isabella Swain was born with the rare and life-threatening disease, biliary atresia. The only indication her parents, Gemma and Alex, had that something was wrong was that she was jaundiced.

Gemma said: “Although I mentioned this on several occasions, I was reassured.

“And of course, I know that lots of babies are jaundiced and Isabella didn’t look like she had a particularly severe case. What I didn’t know then is that prolonged jaundice in newborns can be a sign of liver disease.”

When Isabella was six weeks old and still jaundiced, a health visitor referred her for tests and biliary atresia was diagnosed.

Emergency surgery followed and although she was stable for a couple of months, her condition soon deteriorated, and the next few months were a rollercoaster of hospital admissions as she battled a series of complications. Finally, in January this year, doctors told Gemma and Alex that Isabella’s only hope was a liver transplant.

“We joined the many other families waiting for that call,” said Gemma. “Luckily for us, we didn’t have to wait that long. A suitable liver became available in March and Isabella’s transplant took place at Kings College Hospital in London.”