Seriously-ill teen facing 'race against time' in court battle for life-saving kidney donation

A mother has issued a moving plea for a kidney donor to save her young son's life.

"It's a race against time, but finding someone kind enough to donate a kidney would mean the world to us," Ami McLennan said.

Her son, 17-year-old William Verden is currently being kept alive through dialysis at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital on Oxford Road.

He suffers from acute kidney disease and is at the centre of a court treatment dispute.

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Specialists want a judge to decide if they can stop treating William, who also has autism.

Health bosses have said that he should not be offered the chance to have a kidney transplant, which has a 50 per cent chance of curing his disease and giving him a normal life, according to an expert instructed by the family and the hospital.

Mrs Justice Arbuthnot is due to analyse his case at a trial in the Court of Protection, where issues relating to people who lack the mental capacity to make decisions are considered, in Liverpool later this month.

The judge considered preliminary hearings at an online hearing on Tuesday.

Lawyers told Mrs Justice Arbuthnot that bosses at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, who have responsibilities for William's care, wanted decisions on whether he should have a kidney transplant, continued haemodialysis, or whether 'active treatment' should be withdrawn.

The judge heard that the withdrawal of treatment would lead to William’s death.

Mrs McLennan, 45, from Lancaster, said she does not want treatment to end.

A barrister representing her said at the hearing the teenager had 'very bad' kidney disease.

Victoria Butler-Cole QC told Mrs Justice Arbuthnot that William had few treatment