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Re: Miracles DO Happen PICTURES
From: rd@invalid.fake.net (rd)
<anothascreename@aol.com> wrote in message
news:50ae67fd-4812-471d-9d11-a272d47665b4@d19g2000prh.googlegroups.com...
D.I.Y. dialysis machine built in doctor's garage gives miracle Millie
a shot at life
By Paul Sims
12:12 AM on 12th May 2009
There was little hope that Millie Kelly would live beyond a few weeks.
Life-saving surgery on her tiny body had caused her kidneys to fail
and she was too small for the hospital's dialysis equipment.
But Millie was not fighting her battle to stay alive alone. Her
hospital consultant, touched by her plight, went home to his garage
and built a miniature dialysis machine from scratch.
After a fortnight attached to the DIY machine Millie started to show
signs of improvement and is now, two years later, a fit and healthy
toddler.
Her consultant, paediatrician Malcolm Coulthard, is hoping a refined
version of the machine he cobbled together in his garage will soon be
introduced across the NHS to help other children in Millie's
predicament.
She was born with gastroschisis in which the bowels develop outside
the body. During surgery to return the organs to her abdomen at the
Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle upon Tyne her kidneys began to
fail.
Without them to cleanse her blood - a process called haemodialysis -
she needed a dialysis machine. However, at just over 6lb, she was too
small, even for the machines designed for use on children.
'I was devastated when they said she wouldn't make it,' said Millie's
mother Rebecca, 21, a student from Middlesbrough.
'We thought there was no hope and that every hour she had was a bonus.
So when we heard that people at the hospital were working on a new
machine we had no option but to try it. It was the only hope.
'It looked handmade and there were a few paint splodges on it but I
thought, if it will save my baby's life, I have to try it.
Two-year-old Millie Kelly's life was saved as a baby by a tiny
dialysis machine which was handmade by Newcastle doctor Malcolm
Coulthard in his own garage
Dr Coulthard with the dialysis machine he built that helped save his
patient's life
Millie is now a picture of health thanks to Dr Coulthard, pictured
here with his homemade dialysis machine that helped save his young
patient's life
'Millie's kidneys weren't working at all but after 15 days on the
machine she started to improve. If it were not for that machine then
Millie would not be here today. She is a really lovely child.'
The device meant Millie's kidneys had a chance to recover and she no
longer needs any form of dialysis.
Miss Kelly added: 'Words cannot describe how grateful my family is to
Dr Coulthard.
'We owe her life to him. If I won the lottery I would give it all to
him, we can't thank him enough. Not only is he a great consultant but
now also a great friend.'
Dr Coulthard developed his idea with senior children's kidney nurse
Jean Crosier and hopes to make a new version of the machine widely
available on the NHS.
'At present we will only use the pilot machine on babies where it is
certain that if we don't use it they will die,' he said.
He added that with a 'state-of-the-art device' which has been given a
European safety or CE mark, 'we will be able to ensure that any child
can benefit and it becomes the treatment of choice for any baby that
needs dialysis'.
A team at Newcastle's regional medical physics department is
developing the new machine.
One in 7,000 births is affected by gastroschisis, in which the baby
develops a hole in the abdominal wall while still in the womb.
Dr Coulthard's work has been recognised with the Special Award for
Sustained Endeavour at the North-East's Bright Ideas and Health Awards
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