7-Year-Old Boy Is 1st Child to Receive 5 Organs Simultaneously via Transplant

Jay Crouch of Leicestershire received a new bowel, liver, pancreas, and two kidneys during a single ten-hour operation.

Crouch, from Market Harborough, Leicestershire, had never digested a single bite of food on its own, fed intravenously for the entirety of his young life. At only six weeks of age, Crouch was diagnosed with “short bowel syndrom,” which caused his small intestine to twist inward on itself and obstruct the normal course of digestion. The complications from this irreparably damaged other vital organs. Crouch needed a transplant — and not just one, or even two. He would need to receive five new functioning organs in order to survive.

So, at seven years old, Crouch went through one of the most complex surgical procedures anyone could ever experience. Over the course of ten long hours, surgeons replaced the boy’s failing organs with those from an unnamed young donor. “It’s incredibly rare for this many organs to be successfully transplanted at once and shows the difference that organ donors make to the lives of others,” said transplant lead and consulting surgeon Dr. Khalid Sharif. “Without the generosity and selflessness of donors, their families and loved ones, such life-saving procedures simply couldn’t take place.”

Crouch’s mother echoed a similar, heartfelt sentiment: “There also aren’t enough words to say thank you to the donor and their family and while we’re thrilled that Jay has been given this chance, we’re also incredibly aware of the sadness and tragedy that another family had to endure to make this possible.” But now that the process is complete, she has hope that her son might finally enjoy some semblance of a normal life. “We’re all absolutely amazed at the incredible progress Jay has made in a relatively short space of time. Being able to go home is fantastic as it means we can finally get back to our own routine and Jay can be comfortable in his own space.”

James Neuberger, trustee of the organ donation charity Transplant Sport and transplant consultant at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, extolled the virtues of both the donor and transplantation itself. “This is another example of the great potential that transplantation has to save and improve lives,” he told Newsweek. “We applaud the bravery of Jay and his family, the generosity and altruism of the donor family and the skills of the clinicians involved in the care.”

With organ donation waiting lists that can easily stretch as long as five years — assuming there are no other complications, which in itself is a rarity — children like Jay Crouch cling to a hope that, for many, is never realized. But signing up to be an organ donor is easy and, in the event of a tragedy could mean the difference between a tragic ending, and a happy one for another human being.