'Miracle boy' has new lease of life after successful liver transplant
Young Muhammad Jamail Sultan will return to the Philippines early next month with a new lease of life after a successful liver transplant operation.
The three-year-old boy received part of the liver of his aunt, Rowena Barcelo, during a 15-hour operation on May 15 at Queen Mary Hospital. He was born with biliary atresia, the absence of ducts that drain bile from the liver, a defect that affects one in 15,000 babies.
Named the 'miracle boy' among the Filipino community, Muhammad had to undergo two other operations during his almost four-month stay in Hong Kong.
He had a biopsy to check a tumour on his liver before the transplant and, after the surgery, underwent another operation to drain fluid leaking into his abdomen.
He spent nearly a month in an intensive care unit and was discharged on June 27. On Thursday, after check-ups, University of Hong Kong liver surgeons pronounced him fit to go home with his parents, Jamail and Rosario Sultan.
The entire HK$1.14 million that the family put up for the boy's treatment has been spent.'We no longer have any money,' Mrs Sultan said. 'Despite that, we do not regret that so long as we can save our eldest son.'
Muhammad told his parents he could now 'run, go to school and that his eyes are no longer yellow'. The biggest change in his lifestyle was that he could now get a good night's sleep. Previously, elevated bile levels had caused itchy skin, keeping him awake at night, Mrs Sultan said.
The Sultans collected HK$640,000 in the Philippines through coin-collection boxes, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes, Bantay Bata and the US-based First Hand Foundation.
A further HK$140,000 was donated by the Islamic community in Hong Kong and HK$277,504 by Post readers.
There is no paediatric liver transplant programme in the Philippines. Queen Mary Hospital runs Hong Kong's only liver transplant programme.
