A 7-year-old boy in the UK has become the first child to undergo a five-organ transplant in one operation. The team at Birmingham Children’s Hospital in the West Midlands, UK, operated on Jay Crouch for 10 hours to implant a liver, two kidneys, a pancreas and bowel. Following the surgery in March 2018, Crouch was able to swallow food for the first time in his life. He is now at home, recovering with his family. Crouch was diagnosed with short bowel syndrome when he was six weeks old. The condition caused his small intestine to twist, and triggered complications with his kidneys and other vital organs. As a result, he had never eaten or digested food before the procedure, and was instead fed intravenously throughout his life. 

Crouch said in a statement, “I want to say thank you to my mum for looking after me and my grandma and granddad, who have been telling me every day that I’m getting better.” Acknowledging her son’s deceased organ donor, Katie Freestone said, “There 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.” Khalid Sharif, consultant surgeon and lead for transplantation who operated on Crouch, said, “It’s incredibly rare for these many organs to be successfully transplanted at once and shows the difference that organ donors make to the lives of others. Without the generosity and selflessness of donors, their families and loved ones, such life-saving procedures simply couldn’t take place.”