D.I.Y. dialysis machine built in doctor's garage earns awardA PAEDIATRICIAN who saved the life of a baby girl by making a kidney dialysis machine in his garage has won a prestigious award.
Dr Malcolm Coulthard, from Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary, saved little Millie Sophie Kelly’s life when she was born with gastroschisis, a condition in which the bowels develop outside of the body.
Doctors from the RVI fought to save her and in a delicate operation returned the organs to her abdomen.
But complications following the procedure meant Millie, now two-and-a-half, suffered kidney failure and her mother, Rebecca Kelly, 21, was told there was little hope for her survival.
A dialysis machine – which takes blood from the body, filters it and then returns it – was unavailable on the NHS for children under a certain weight, and any hope for Millie, born weighing 6lb 2oz, was ruled out.
But Dr Coulthard was able to save the youngster. In the garage of his home, he made a tiny dialysis machine and later hooked the baby up to it. For seven days the machine battled to keep Millie going, until she showed signs of improvement. Now the tot is healthy and fighting fit.
Dr Coulthard scooped the Special Award for Sustained Endeavour, at the region’s Bright Ideas and Health Awards, run by the NHS Innovations team at RTC North, with Millie there to share the consultant’s accolade.
Dr Coulthard said: “To have Millie here is great because she is a very special patient and I love seeing her with her mam and nana every time they come to clinic. What I hope for is that the original design can be replaced with one being developed by Clive Griffiths and his team at Newcastle’s Regional Medical Physics Department and used in hospitals everywhere.
“At present we will only use the pilot machine on babies where we are certain that if we don’t use it they will die.
“With a new state-of-the-art device which has been tested and CE marked, we will be able to ensure that any child can benefit and it becomes the treatment of choice for any baby that needs dialysis.”
Rebecca, a student who lives in the Linthorpe area of Middlesbrough, said she owed her baby’s life to the North East paediatrician.
She said: “Words cannot describe how grateful my family are to Dr Coulthard. Not only is he a great consultant but now also a great friend and inspiration to Millie, my family and I.
“We thought there was no hope and that every hour 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.
“Her kidneys weren’t working at all but after 15 days on the machine she started to improve. We owe her life to him. If I won the lottery I would give it all to him.”
Dr Coulthard’s machine allows haemodialysis – the cleaning of blood through an artificial kidney – of tiny babies with renal failure and other rare metabolic diseases.
Rebecca added: “It looked hand-made in the garage, but I thought if it will save my baby’s life then I have to try it.”
http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2009/05/11/newcastle-paediatrician-wins-prestigious-award-61634-23589565/
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