Transplant boy faces challenge of first day at school

The four-year-old is one of just 24 people in the world to suffer with Pleuropulmonary Blastoma (PPB) on his kidney.

He has endured so many health problems since he was born that he has never attended a day of nursery or school but has now astounded his family and medics by being well enough to go to school.

His mother Gillian Brown, 38, first noticed problems with her son when he was five-months-old. But because of the rarity of his condition, he was not diagnosed until 10 months later when doctors found his kidney was swelling because of cysts caused by PPB type I, which also affects his lungs.

He had to have both kidneys removed before he was two and underwent a transplant in October 2008 and the operation was successful.

Gillian, of Leeds, who is a full-time carer for Lucas said: "I can't wait for him to go to school and have his own friends, running around like the rest of the kids but you do still worry about him because he has always been there for us to watch over.

"It is such a relief to see him behaving like other children his age, because you want your kids to have as much of a normal life as possible."

Gillian, a mother-of-six, who lives with her partner Martin Longthorpe, said: "You can't really tell to look at him now that there is anything wrong with him, he just walks slightly differently because he developed slower but that's about it."

While Lucas has accepted his new kidney well and his health is much better he is still not clear of PPB, with cysts still affecting his lungs.