A little Leeds boy is never sorry for himself despite five organ transplants and becoming allergic to sunlight.
When Patrick Askham was born he had a condition called Gastroschisis, a defect where a baby's intestines and sometimes other organs are found outside the body. Though it can be a common procedure that is easily treatable, eight-year-old Patrick faced complications.
His bowels were matted and his body rejected them, he had to be fed through a tube in his heart because he couldn't eat. He got his first bowel transplant at eight-years-old but due to the complications from the heart feed his other organs began to rot.
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Following the first transplant, Patrick became immunosuppressed which caused another issue, he became allergic to sunlight. By this point, Patrick has received a further four organs via transplant and now his mum is trying to find a way to make his home life easier.
Speaking to LeedsLive, mum Michelle from Beeston, said: "His immunosuppression from the first transplant made him allergic to the sun, so he reacts in hot weather and heat
“And after this transplant of four organs, including a liver, he wasn’t allowed into the sun, and now he has to stay in the house.
“So we thought we would just do the garden with him, stop him sitting in the four same walls, and thought he could enjoy the outside in, we don’t get to go on big holidays, we just stay at home and make do with the garden, we made the garden beautiful for the kids.
“We used to have to be home and give him regimented medicines, we just cancelled another holiday because of the transplant, it’s just about making home the best."
Patrick's journey is an inspiration to many, with Michelle, 37, saying despite the constant issues, her little boy never "feels sorry for himself."
She added: " He is just a normal, eight-year-old boy that wants to play and get dirty and get into mischief and kick a ball around and just be normal, he doesn’t let any of this affect him, he really is a real-life superhero.
“We don’t mollycoddle him, this is how he is, how he was born, how he grew up.
“We don’t see him as a poorly child, he’s just a normal boy and this is the hand he has been dealt.
"There is nothing shameful about it, he just deals with it amazingly well.
In a bid to make his life better, the family are now looking to create a little house in the garden so that he doesn't have to stay inside throughout the summer. Michelle says the family are not looking for any donations but are hoping someone might be able to help them out.
"We are not asking for anyone to donate us anything, I would prefer to use a local company, it’s just financially too much.”
Patrick's journey can be seen on his Facebook page here.
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