Jill and husband David volunteered to donate parts of their own livers after being told their 18-month-old son, Luke, had just 48 hours to live.

Now after a frantic race against time, experts have saved little Luke's life in a last-minute operation using his mother's liver.

The op is the first transplant ever to be performed on an acute liver patient in the UK with an organ donated by a living relative.

An emotional Jill, 32, of Swallows Green Drive, Worthing, said: "I'm still tired at the moment, and I can't do a lot of things I normally could, like lifting Luke, but I'm very happy now because he has been saved.

"I could have died on the operating table, but that didn't even come into it. My only concern was for Luke, and to do what I could for him."

Desperate

The nightmare started for David and Jill when Luke was rushed into Worthing Hospital with suspected hepatitis.

After being transferred to London's Kings College Hospital, he was found to have suffered acute liver failure.

Doctors told the desperate couple that Luke would die within two days unless a suitable donor could be found.

But when one failed to turn up, the pair pleaded with surgeons to use parts of their own livers instead, despite the risk to their own lives.

After cramming 16 weeks worth of physical and psychological tests into just 24 hours, Jill was finally given the go-ahead for the op.

Now Luke and his mother are recovering after 13 hours of surgery.

Jill said: "I wasn't frightened at all by the operation. Everything happened in such a blur, from the moment Luke fell ill.

"The idea that I've made medical history just doesn't seem real to me, but at least now they know this can be done, so it should give hope to lots of other people."

She added: "After they'd done the tests, David and I were told either of us could have been the donor, but I had always said if that was the case I wanted to be the one."

David, 29, a surveyor and van rental firm boss, waited anxiously without sleep while the operation was carried out.

He said: "At first, when we were told what was wrong with Luke we just thought they could do a liver transplant. Then we were told about the donor situation, which was desperate."

He added: "Now Luke is alive and smiling again. He is laughing and throwing his toys around, so we couldn't have asked for more."

Consultant Dr Mohammed Rela who performed the operation, says Luke only survived because of his parents' self-sacrifice.

He said: "Luke would have died within a week of his liver failing if we hadn't carried out the operation, and from the point we decided to do the transplant he had at most two or three days left.

"The operation worked out very well and I believe, even retrospectively, we just scraped through. If it had been a day or so later Luke probably wouldn't have survived.

"Luke's parents were marvellous. They were very brave and positive, so we couldn't have had a better family to work with.

"Their child was dying, so it was very important we didn't pressurise them into anything."

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