Teen given 12-months to live granted potentially life-saving surgery after major court ruling

A 17-year-old boy being treated at a Manchester hospital will be allowed to have potentially life-saving surgery after a court ruling.

William Verden, from Lancaster, has a rare kidney disease and is currently being kept alive through dialysis.

Sadly, the teenager was told that he only has 12 months at the most before the process will stop working.

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That prompted mum Amy McLennan to try and find a suitable kidney donor for her son, who also suffers from ADHD and autism.

However, doctors at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital did not agree to a transplant, arguing that William was likely to see a recurrence of the disease in his new kidney.

Should William see the disease come back, the medics said, a method called plasma exchange — which has a three-in-four success rate — would be used to treat him.

That would require William needing to be sedated and ventilated for a minimum of 14 days.

After both the family and Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital, could not agree on how to treat William, the case was referred to the Court of Protection, sitting in Liverpool.

Now, Mrs Justice Arbuthnot has ruled William should be allowed to undergo the transplant.

It’s a decision which mum Amy says allows the family to ‘look to the future’.

She said: “We adore William and all we want is for him to live the best life he can. At present I firmly believe that this won’t be possible unless he can receive the care he desperately needs and deserves.

“Bringing a legal case isn’t something we ever wanted or thought we would need to do. However, William’s situation is critical and could mean the difference between life