When doctors told Teddy Sellick's parents their desperately-ill baby needed a liver transplant they could only hope he would survive. But the operation was a great success. JACK LEFLEY went to visit the family shortly after Teddy's 10th birthday ...

IMAGINE being told your baby is seriously ill and may need to undergo a major operation just a month into his young life.

That is the situation which confronted Don and Lisa Sellick when doctors diagnosed their son Teddy with the rare liver disease biliary atresia.

The condition causes the bile ducts to become blocked and, without treatment, leads to irreversible damage.

Lisa Sellick, 38, of Montrose Avenue, Welling, says she can now see in photos Teddy was jaundiced as a baby.

Doctors realised something was badly wrong when Teddy underwent standard checks at eight weeks.

The mother-of-two said: "They told us he would need an operation to unblock his bile ducts and he had that at 10 weeks.

"But tests showed it didn't work and at 10 months they told us he would die unless he had a liver transplant.

"We were absolutely devastated and kept thinking there was something we could have done. Luckily a suitable liver was found within a week.

"The operation lasted six hours the longest of my life. We didn't know if he would make it."

But the surgery was a success and, despite a bout of tuberculosis brought on by his weakened immune system, Teddy was relatively healthy by the age of two.

THE FACTS
  • Biliary atresia affects up to 80 babies every year in the UK and is the main reason why infants under the age of one undergo a liver transplant
  • The fatal condition must be diagnosed quickly, before the baby is eight weeks old
  • A corrective operation is essential to try and establish bile drainage from the liver to prevent it becoming damaged
  • If the operation fails, as it does in about a third of cases, or is performed too late after about 14 weeks of age then the only chance of a child surviving beyond the age of two is a liver transplant

Mrs Sellick says the West Wood Primary schoolboy, who celebrated his 10th birthday earlier this month, is now thriving.

The market researcher said: "Teddy needs immuno-suppressants and steroids to boost his immune system but, apart from that, you wouldn't know there was anything wrong.

"He is a happy, outgoing and active boy. He loves football and is a mad Millwall fan. He's going to be their mascot at the Bradford City game on May 9 and that's great for him."

The Children's Liver Disease Foundation charity fights liver disease in children and young people.

The foundation's chief executive Catherine Arkley said: "Transplants are not a cure and children like Teddy will remain on medication for the rest of their lives.

"This dreadful disease still eludes us and we don't know the cause or how to prevent it. The search continues through research to find an answer."

For more information, call the Children's Liver Disease Foundationon 0121 2123839 or visit www.childliverdisease.org