Case Studies - Zoe

Zoe was diagnosed at seven weeks with biliary artresia, which is the absence of closure ducts that drain bile from the liver.  The week she was diagnosed she was given a Kasai procedure to attach the small intestine directly to the place where the bile drains from the liver.  She returned home from hospital but the operation was not successful so she went onto the transplant list.  Two days before Christmas a donor organ became available and she was given the operation.  She has had four biopsies since then because of concerns over blood tests, but other than that Zoe has not spent too much time in hospital.  Zoe still has to take daily doses of steroids and immuno-suppressants but she does not let this interfere with her schooling and her very active life. 

Zoe has a special book that she likes to show to visitors. It is an album exquisitely covered in silk, that provides a photo-journal beginning with her birth and ending with a party one year on.

"That party was for my birthday. But it was also because I didn't die" she says.

 

 

Today, at the age of seven, Zoe is a tennis-paying, scooter-riding all-round bundle of energy. But she is also a child with a remarkable awareness of her survival.

"She knows exactly how fortunate she is to be here and I think that is why being a fighter has become part of her personality"

Zoe's mum

Last year, Zoe was invited to a fundraising lunch for WellChild where she met princes William and Harry, along with other children who have benefited from the charity's work.