Ross forced to move to get vital treatment

Ross forced to move to get vital treatment

Sep 28 2008 By Heather Greenaway

Teen Moves 250 Miles To Battle Disease

JUST one month ago Ross Gemmell was an ordinary, sporty schoolboy.

But his life changed dramatically when his kidney failed, forcing him to move almost 250 miles away from his home and friends.

Brave Ross, 15, is now on the long waiting list for a transplant and has to endure gruelling dialysis sessions three times a week.

He said: "I try not to let my condition get me down and to live as normal a life as possible but, until they find a kidney match, I'll be on dialysis for a long time.

"I hope more people will agree to donate their organs because there is a big shortage in this country."

Ross was just 18 months old when he was diagnosed with cystinosis, a rare and inherited disease that damages organs.

There was a one in four million chance he would be born with it.

It was controlled by drugs until a month ago, when it caused kidney failure.

He and mum Fiona Allan, 44, had to move 247 miles from their home in Lochcarron, Wester Ross, to Glasgow so he could undergo treatment at the city's Yorkhill children's hospital.

Fiona said: "Ross has been in and out of hospital for 13 years and I've never heard him complain once.

"He takes everything in his stride and is a real support to me.

"Even after a long dialysis session, he is happy and cheery and joking with all the doctors and nurses.

"He's one in a million and I'm keeping everything crossed we can find a donor.

"Even if my kidney was a match, I couldn't give him it because I'm diabetic and can't donate.

"A couple of months ago he was playing shinty and holding down a weekend job in our local cafe. He's my star and I just want him to get better."

Ross and Fiona have moved into the charity-run Ronald McDonald house beside Yorkhill.

Fiona said: "I don't know what we would have done without it.

"We have our own family room and kitchen where we can try to live as normal a life as possible. The staff are lovely and helpful and we cannot thank them enough."

Ross - now a pupil at St Thomas Aquinas Secondary in Glasgow's Jordanhill - added: "Ronald McDonald House is great. There are lots of people to chat to and it is close to the hospital and my new school."

Staff from McDonald's restaurants across Scotland raise money for the house.

This year they made a record-breaking £100,000 through challenges such as skydiving and leg-waxing.

Thomas Kelly, McDonald's Director of Operations Scotland and Northern Ireland, said: "Ronald McDonald House is a hugely important and valued facility to help remove some of the more practical worries for people whose loved ones are receiving intensive hospital treatment."

Join register at www.uktransplant.org.uk - donate at www.ronaldmcdonald.net

http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2008/09/28/ross-forced-to-move-to-get-vital-treatment-78057-20757164/