THE family of a teenager who has to spend 10 hours a day connected to a dialysis machine is appealing for a donor to give him the gift of life.

Lucas Burrows, who is 14, has been seriously ill since December 2022 when he developed dense deposits disease, a rare and aggressive condition affecting the kidney.

The youngster, who lives with his parents Dan and Lucy, and siblings, Ellie and Eddie, spent January to March last year in St James' Hospital in Leeds, before developing Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES), another rare condition in which parts of the brain are affected by swelling, usually as a result of an underlying cause.

Lucy, who attended Malton School and Kirkham Henry Performing Arts Centre, said: "The odds of having both conditions together is around 1 in 60 million.

"Lucas was in a coma for two weeks and we were told there was a possibility he wouldn’t come round. The phrase gravely ill and there was nothing more medically they could do still haunts us.

"Luckily for us despite the odds he is a fighter. Two brain surgeries later and a three week stay in intensive care followed and remarkably he made a full recovery from the PRES which astounded the medics and eventually he returned home to continue the fight with his chronic kidney disease.

"Despite all our best efforts with Lucas' diet and drug trials, which involved him injecting himself with needles twice a week, he now needs 10 hours of dialysis a day to help do the job his kidneys can no longer do and his only option is a transplant."

After weeks of waiting the family, who now live in Wakefield, were given the amazing news that a kidney match had been found and a transplant date was set for October.

However, last week they were given the devastating news that after last minute complications the operation could not go ahead and they mean were back to square one.

Lucas and his family are now once again looking for potential living kidney donors with blood type O to give him a chance to get back to some level of normality.

Dad, Daniel said: "Lucas has had two years battling an incredibly aggressive disease with his life on pause. He’s missed so much and we hope that one day a transplant can give him back some normality. Despite the difficulties and setbacks he keeps smiling and looking forward.

"Luckily for us despite the odds he is a fighter and defied the medics.

"We are incredibly grateful to those amazing people that have already come forward with offers to help but due to the difficult matching process many people are ruled out. The criteria are blood type O (positive or negative) and a BMI below 30%."

Anyone who feels they can help Lucas should email Leedskidneyappeal@nhs.net – please state that you would like to be considered for Lucas Burrows on the enquiry or phone the Leeds transplant team on 0113 206660.