Boy with rare disease receives new kidney

Click here for updates on this story

    BOSTON (WMUR) — A Newmarket boy is on the road to recovery after getting a new kidney.

Ian Donaldson, 11, is back home in Newmarket after receiving a transplant earlier this month.

“I feel amazing,” he said.

Ian has come a long way since WMUR reported on him in February 2019. He has poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis, a rare kidney disease that required three trips a week to Boston Children’s Hospital for dialysis.

While not a cure, Ian’s new kidney means no more dialysis and a more normal life.

“It feels like everything is going exactly the way it should,” his mother, Andrea Donaldson, said.

For about a year, family, friends and even strangers got tested to see if they could be a match for Ian.

“I consider just their effort and trying to do it equal to as if they were able to donate to him,” Andrea Donaldson said.

In January, Ian went on the kidney transplant list. Then the pandemic hit. He held his place in line, but they couldn’t accept any calls until May.

“They were just unsure how COVID would affect kidney transplant recipients,” Andrea Donaldson said. “They found apparently that not much differently than healthy kids.”

Then on July 8, a match was found.

Ian is grateful for everyone who has helped him along the way.

“Thank you so much. I wouldn’t be here without my dialysis nurses, my doctors, everybody at the children’s hospital and my friends and family who supported me through this. So thanks to everybody,” he said.

Ian still has to be careful and take medication. His family is urging people to become organ donors.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.