A dad has donated a kidney to his four-year-old son – who can now, for the first time in his life, enjoy swimming and trampolining.

Oliver Keitley was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease shortly after he was born, and has spent most of his life in hospital on dialysis.

But dad, John Keitley, 29, was determined to give his son a chance to enjoy ‘normal life’ – so decided to donate his own kidney, after discovering he was a match.

Due to Covid, there were delays with their procedures – but last month Oliver underwent a four-hour operation to receive his dad’s organ.

John, who is Oliver’s full-time carer, said: ‘The donation and transplant went really smoothly.

‘I’m very happy that I went through with the transplant to give Oliver the gift of life, he thinks I’m a real life superhero now.

‘It was very nerve wracking but the end result for my boy is what it’s all been about.’

John says that it has been difficult having to explain to Oliver that he’s limited in the things he can do – mainly because he loves to play so much. 

But the operation means Oliver will now be able to live in a similar way to other children his age.

Oliver’s mum, Cat, said: ‘I can’t express how over the moon we are.

‘John is Oliver’s real life hero, I’m so proud of them both. Oliver has dreamt of going swimming or playing on a trampoline and we can finally say goodbye to weekly dialysis.

‘Oliver is such a cheeky boy who is a really clever lad. He loves his animals and his dinosaurs and can name many of them.

‘We bought him some dinosaurs when they started to remove tubes and wires because he was being so brave.

‘He has been through so much but it has made us stronger as a family and we are so glad to be home.’

Oliver will have to take anti-rejection medications for the rest of his life – but he’ll no longer be on weekly dialysis.

His parents have set up a fundraising page on GoFundMe to raise money for Birmingham Children’s hospital – the venue that carried out Oliver’s operation and supported his recovery.

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