Hearts have lifted at an incredible story of a community coming together to help a 12-year-old child in desperate need of a kidney.
In Leeds, United Kingdom, the local government reached out with an extraordinary plea for help for a boy under the City Council's care, who needs a kidney transplant.
An "urgent" appeal launched on January 9 noted it was a "highly unusual step," but the council was appealing directly to the people of Leeds, "to help find a matching donor for the gravely ill boy who has been in its care since 2022."
The boy, for whom they gave the pseudonym Jack as his age and circumstances mean he must remain anonymous, was diagnosed with chronic kidney failure at just 10 months old, and has been on the transplant waiting list since 2019.
Recent health complications meant Jack was on his final treatment option, which involved undergoing dialysis in hospital for four hours, three times a week.
Now, just days later, the transplant team in charge of Jack's healthcare has closed the appeal—as almost 700 strangers have got in touch to see if they are a match for the boy.
The appeal had reached over 3 million people, being shared over 34,000 times from the council's Facebook page alone, with strangers from as far off as Australia sending messages of support, according to an update shared by the council on January 15.
In the update, a spokesperson for the Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust Live Donor Team said they have been "delighted by the response," and would like to thank everyone who has come forward to offer their support to 'Jack.'"
"Due to the scale of the response, at present we are no longer looking for new enquiries for this patient," they said, but added that anyone thinking of becoming a donor should do so, "as there are many other patients waiting for donor organs."
Leeds City Council's executive member for children and families, Councilor Helen Hayden, thanked the community "for your phenomenal response to our appeal asking for help for this young boy."
"We have been blown away by your support and are profoundly grateful to everyone for sharing the campaign so widely and to the potential donors who have come forward in their hundreds," she said.
"This just shows how the people of Leeds can come together when it counts and how compassionate our city is when it comes to supporting one of our own. We truly hope this will lead to some positive news for Jack."
Reacting to the update, one moved commenter wrote on Facebook: "Great to see people are putting themselves forward to help people like little Jack who needs a kidney transplant."
"This is lovely to see! Amazing response for five days, sending love to Jack and his family," another said, as one called it "amazing news," adding: "I pray every day for Jack and pray for the absolute best for him."
In the United States, in 2024 alone there were 48,149 organ transplants nationally, according to data from the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) via the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS).
This means that, on average, there were 132 transplants a day throughout all of last year: from 7,030 living donors, and 16,988 deceased donors.
In a press release, UNOS CEO Maureen McBride, PhD, said "each transplant represents an individual, a family, a story, and a life saved or improved.
"Each transplant also represents a selfless decision made by a grieving family or an inspired living donor, and it is incumbent upon us to honor each and every one of those irreplaceable gifts."
Newsweek has contacted Leeds City Council's Helen Hayden and the Leeds Teaching Hospital for comment on this story.
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