Four year old Mason Lewis from Warwickshire has become the smallest person, at just three foot (93 centimetres) tall, to undergo a lung transplant in the UK. Mason is also the youngest person with pulmonary hypertension (PH – a rare blood vessel disorder) in the UK to successfully undergo a lung transplant. The transplant took place at Great Ormond Street Hospital.

At eight months old, after his mum Rebecca noticed he wasn’t absorbing food Mason underwent a number of tests which showed his heart was damaged on the left hand side and the right hand side was being squashed against his lungs. He was transferred to Great Ormond Street Hospital, where he remained on cardiac intensive care for a month while doctors started treatment. He was placed on the transplant waiting list in January this year.

The transplant was carried out by Professor Martin Elliott, professor of cardiothoracic surgery, and required delicate surgical techniques because the lungs were so small.

Rebecca says: “After the transplant had taken place he experienced some bleeding but we were told by his surgeon, Professor Elliott that it had gone well. Mason will have to take anti-rejection drugs for the rest of his life, but he is able to take these orally and they are nothing like the continuous treatment he was on before.”

“We are indebted to the clinical team, especially Dr Spencer and Professor Elliott, who have given our son a wonderful opportunity to lead a good quality of life. We are also eternally grateful to the donor family. We cannot imagine what they went through. They lost a child and have displayed courage and selflessness. We would like to urge people to think about becoming donors, and to consider what they would do if tragedy hit their children as uncomfortable and difficult as we know that is.”

Dr Helen Spencer, consultant in transplant respiratory medicine and cystic fibrosis, is Mason’s consultant: “This is the first time in the UK we have seen a child this small successfully transplanted with lungs this small. We hope the fact we have been able to do this in someone as small as Mason will offer hope for patients like him in the future.”

To join the NHS Organ Donor Register, call the Organ Donor Register line on 0300 123 23 23, or log onto the website: www.organdonation.nhs.uk, or text the word ‘SAVE’ to 84118.