Family vow to give ill Newport tot 'best Christmas ever' (From South Wales Argus)

Family vow to give ill Newport tot 'best Christmas ever'

11:06am Monday 16th November 2009

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THE family of a Newport tot fighting for his life in end-stage kidney failure is preparing to make what could be his last Christmas a memorable one.

Doctors broke the heartbreaking news that they could do no more to help four-year-old Leo Jones after an operation to prolong his life failed.

Early indications showed the procedure called a fistula - an abnormal connection between an artery and a vein in his arm - to allow him to have dialysis without the use of tubes was working well.

But the day after the operation at Bristol’s Children’s Hospital on October 26, Leo became ill and tested positive for Swine Flu, and a sickness called Norovirus, and has since come down with pneumonia.

A later scan revealed the fistula had sealed itself and doctors said any attempts to try again could cause infection and shorten his life.

A transplant with a kidney from his father Gareth Jones in May failed and doctors say he is not suitable for another one.

Leo’s mum Katherine Whatley, 28, said the family was “gutted” by the news.

She said: “I cried all day. The doctors have run out of options. They could try again but it’s an extra stress for no positive outcome and one which could bring us 100 steps closer to the end."

Miss Whatley said the family was now committed to making every second Leo has left special and have already been overwhelmed by toy donations for him and his sisters Sophie, ten, and Alyssa, three, from local shops including Hasbro, ASDA, Tesco, Boots and The Range.

These include a life-size sit-on dinosaur, a Christmas tree and decorations.

Friends are also organising a fundraiser to help raise £2,800 to pay for the family to go on a three-day break to Butlins in Minehead for New Year.

The event at The Friendship, Ringland, starts at 4pm on December 18 with a special visit from Father Christmas, Newport County’s Spytty the Dog and Newport Gwent Dragons mascot Rodney the dragon. Tickets can be bought on the door.

Miss Whatley said: “They have no idea how long Leo will live, it could be a week, a month, a year. Although this Christmas might not be his last, it very well could be, we just want him to experience everything he can.”

Anyone wishing to donate money for the trip can contact Argus reporter Natalie Crockett on 01633 777246.

Little battler was given 10% survival chance

The Alway Primary School pupil was given just a ten per cent chance of survival when he was born with a tumour on his spine in 2005. He survived a cardiac arrest at just two-weeks old after undergoing an operation to remove the tumour, which left his kidneys permanently damaged. Leo takes a cocktail of seven different drugs a day and two injections a week to control his condition and is fed through a tube in his stomach. Previous attempts to give him dialysis have failed because his body rejected the plastic tubes doctors used to carry out the procedure, causing him serious illness including peritonitis, which left him fighting for his life.

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