‘A miraculous story for an incredible little boy’: The youngest recipient of a liver transplant in Africa

After spending 52 days in hospital, the youngest recipient of a liver transplant in Africa, at only eight weeks old, is safely back home recovering with his parents, twin sister and older brother.  

What started on a Monday morning in mid-April as bad tummy cramps quickly escalated, leading to the admission of Hudson Andrew Wilson to a newborn intensive care unit (NICU) the next day.

After several blood tests, Hudson was diagnosed with acute liver failure.  

“They told us the only option for him to live was to have a transplant on the day. We thought it would be weeks. They said he did not have much time. He had deteriorated,” said Hudson’s mother Dani Wilson.

Wilson said in addition to acute liver failure, she was told there was an issue with Hudson’s blood clotting and he tested positive for enterovirus.

“If they needed to perform an operation, the risk of bleeding was high because his blood would not clot,” she said.

Hudson, who has a twin sister, was born a healthy baby at 35 weeks on February 20.

His paediatrician, Dr Carice Goossens, said very rarely will a baby out of a newborn period develop acute onset severe jaundice. 

“That’s why when Dani mentioned he was looking yellow, I thought something concerning was going on. So grateful to the incredible team at Donald Gordon [medical centre] our paediatric surgeon recommended. Everything fell into place for Hudson all due to a mom and family being so observant. A miraculous story for an incredible little boy,” said Goossens.

One of Wilson’s closest friends was a match and opted to donate a portion of her liver to save his life.

“Unfortunately I wasn’t able to donate. My husband wasn’t able to donate. He is 1.8m tall and his liver would be too big. The first option was family and then someone who was willing to donate,” she said.

Wilson said the specialist doctor was worried Hudson wouldn’t make it through the transplant.

“They were worried about his brain haemorrhaging,” she said.

Her friend spent about a week in the ICU, and is recovering at home.

“She is almost completely recovered. Her liver is growing back to its normal size. She is  doing very well.”

After about seven weeks in the ICU, Hudson returned home on Friday. 

“We were released from hospital after 52 days,” Wilson said.

She said he had complications along the way and there was a possibility of more, but he was recovering 

“He was the smallest and youngest they have ever done in Africa. They had to take a portion of her liver and shave it down as much as possible to make it small enough to fit in him,” Wilson said.

She said her son had to take many medications, including withdrawal medications.

“He is at home and we have additional care to help us.

“People don’t realise the moment the transplant is done you are not out of the woods. Complications can happen afterwards. I had taken a Bidvest policy and didn’t realise he would be covered when this happened. Within four days they had paid me out.”

She said a new challenge was getting him to learn how to feed. .

“We had to get him to eat and start feeding on normal formula. He hadn’t eaten for seven weeks so he had lost the ability to suck, he had forgotten how to do it. We had to train him with a speech therapist and dietitians to start getting him to drink from a bottle. That is the last challenge we are trying to overcome.”

Wilson said the ordeal took a toll on the family, including Hudson’s siblings.

“You never expect this to happen to your child. This is unimaginable. Having a twin sister at home who is small and also needs you, and a three-year-old who is not old enough to understand what is happening, it took a huge toll on the other children. We are traumatised. It’s been extremely hard. It is a very emotional thing to deal with.”

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