An 11-year-old boy is celebrating his first healthy Christmas outside of hospital after a lifesaving transplant.

Lucas Lesley is one of the lucky ones who will receive a transplant in time to be well at Christmas and his parents say it is “the best gift we could have”. More than 8,000 people – the highest number ever recorded in the UK – will spend Christmas waiting for a transplant - including almost 250 children.

Mum Mandie Scott and dad Ryan Leslie told the Mirror how they will spend their first normal Christmas as a family. Mandie said: “We are so thankful that this wonderful family said yes to organ donation and allowed Lucas, and possibly others, a second chance at life. They are heroes in my eyes.”

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Lucas Leslie was just six weeks old when a routine visit from his health visitor led to urgent hospital tests for severe jaundice. Doctors soon identified liver problems and referred him to Birmingham Children’s Hospital where he was diagnosed with Biliary Atresia - a rare condition in which the bile ducts are abnormally narrow, blocked or missing.

At just nine weeks old, Lucas underwent a major operation known as the Kasai procedure, designed to allow bile to drain from the liver. The surgery supported him through his early years but at age four he developed portal hypertension, a dangerous build-up of pressure in a major vein leading into the liver. The condition caused complications including an enlarged spleen and frequent nosebleeds.

By the time he was nine, infections were becoming more frequent, and his liver function was deteriorating and he was placed on the transplant waiting list in September 2023.

Lucas required constant monitoring, including regular blood tests and endoscopies and had to reduce his school hours. In the final seven months before transplant he was too unwell to attend at all.

Mandie, 35, a former social care worker, said: “As we saw Lucas get sicker, we were always worried whether that call would come in time. It’s so heartbreaking to see your child so ill and all you can do is wait. The waiting was so hard.”

Then earlier this year mum Mandie and dad Ryan, 37, who live in Hanwood, Shrewsbury, received the phone call they had been longing for. A donor had been found.

Mandie said: “We were so elated to hear that they had found a liver for Lucas, but at the same time we felt so torn. We knew a family was going through the hardest time of their life. We also knew that even though this is ultimately what we’d been waiting for.”

It was just the start of Lucas’ battle for recovery as his transplant involved a gruelling eight-hour procedure at Birmingham’s Children’s Hospital. Mandie said: “He faced it like a trooper. He spent four weeks there recovering before being allowed home.”

As Christmas Day approaches, the family is planning a celebration they once feared they would never have. Mandie said: “This year we are looking forward to enjoying our first proper Christmas with Lucas well and healthy. He is full of beans and so excited - it’s his favourite time of year, especially with his birthday being in December too.

“Lucas has never had a birthday or Christmas without worrying about being ill or in hospital, so we are just so excited to have a normal family Christmas this year. The gift that the donor family gave has given us our lively little boy back, for us it’s the best gift we could have for Christmas."

It comes with the NHS transplant waiting list at a record high after a post-pandemic drop in donors. There is also increasing demand from the UK’s aging population.

Mandie added: “We’d never really considered organ donation before. I think if you are prepared to take an organ, you should be prepared to give one. I’d encourage everyone to sign the NHS Organ Donor Register.”

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) insists it is just as vital as ever that people sign the Organ Donor Register to make their wishes clear, in case the worst happens.

Anthony Clarkson, donation director at NHSBT said: “I’m delighted to hear Lucas is doing so well after his transplant. Organ donation truly is the ultimate gift and for those families who agree to support donation going ahead amidst their grief, it is testament to their bravery and selflessness.

“Transplants can’t happen without donors, So I would encourage everyone who supports organ donation to join the NHS Organ Donor Register and let your families know your decision.

“It might be a strange conversation to have around the table at Christmas, but it will be the most important one that could potentially mean more people like Lucas get to spend next Christmas with their families.”

To register your organ donation decision call 0300 123 23 23, visit www.organdonation.nhs.uk or use the NHS app in England.