'Oldest transplant patient' given 20 minutes to leave his house in life-or-death race to Birmingham
Grandfather-of-three Mick Ketley turns 80 - seven years after he was given months to live without a new liver
A grandad given months to live without a liver transplant was today, Saturday, March 29, celebrating turning 80 - seven years after the operation that saved his life.
At 73, keen bird watcher Mick Ketley was one of the oldest patients ever to have the procedure in the UK.
The dad-of-two is from Northamptonshire but was rushed to Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital for surgery after a donor match was found.
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The race to save his life began when a blood test revealed a liver condition he had kept at bay with medication had dramatically worsened.
The retired engineer, who doesn't drink or smoke, said he felt "fantastic" after the op, which he branded a "total success". Mick was discharged from the hospital, run by University Hospitals Birmingham (UHB), in less than a week.
He praised the QE's consultants, surgeons, doctors, nurses and team for saving his life - and continues to be in perfect health.
"I was overage to have the operation done. But because I was so fit and had no history of angina or heart conditions, the hospital considered it," grandfather-of-three Mick told BirminghamLive.
"It went in front of a hospital board with specialists in the field of liver medicine and they took it on.
"People couldn't believe I had it done. I recovered in record time."
Revealing how the transplant came about, Mick, from Corby, said a blood test in 2017 returned alarming results.
"I had a liver condition without realising. It was failing," he said.
"I was travelling all over the country and the world bird watching - Greece, Cuba, Morocco, Holland.
"I showed no symptoms, but the figures were alarming. I was put on medication to keep it at bay. I was having a blood test once a year and it was under control.
"Then in 2017, I got a call from the doctors the day after I had a blood test done. They said I was seriously ill and needed to come in.
"Doctors told me they had sent all my scans and results to one of the top men in the world, Prof Gideon Hirschfield in Birmingham.
"I'd never had any contact with Birmingham - I don't think I'd even been there before.
"I was given two days' notice to get to the QE. I couldn't believe the size of the place - it was like an airport.
"They told me I was the 'mystery man' - they couldn't find a reason for the condition. I wouldn't have seen 2019 if I didn't have the transplant.
"I was never apprehensive. When I walked in that front door I felt at ease. I didn't have long to wait as my blood type is one of the most common."
Recalling how he was told a donor organ was available, Mick said: "The phone rang at 1.10am, my wife Maria came out of the bedroom shaking. She knew what it was about.
"It was a very short conversation. The QE said they had a compatible liver for me on the way and said: 'You've got 20 minutes to get out of the house. We'll ring you again to make sure you're on your way.'
"We had bags packed for that type of call at a moment's notice.
"We got to Birmingham so quickly in about an hour - even before the liver had arrived.
"Normally it takes three hours to remove the liver and three to five hours to transplant the new one.
"But Dr Thamara Perera (Mick's consultant liver transplant surgeon who undertook the op) turned it all around in three-hours-and-45-minutes. Marvellous man! It was a total success.
"I woke up the next morning and I felt fantastic and I've been like that ever since.
"My family thought I'd be in a coma for a couple of days afterwards, but I was up. Bright as a button!
"The nurses also put the football on for me - England were playing in the World Cup (won 2-1 v Tunisia). I thought that was a touch of class!
"The operation was done in record time and I recovered in record time. Luckily, I didn't have the two symptoms most people get which is being sick a lot and falling over.
"I was out of hospital the next weekend. It could have been earlier, I think there was a delay with the paperwork.
"I felt so good. I went a week later for a follow-up, I was meant to go every week for six months but it didn't turn out anything like that.
"After a couple of weeks I was so good I went monthly, then after three months, and now it's just an annual telephone call."
Mick said a family asked him to speak to another liver transplant patient at the hospital to reassure him after his operation, which happened just after Father's Day in June 2018.
"He was petrified whereas I wasn't. People couldn't believe I'd just had it done," he added.
Mick said he again met Dr Perera at Aston Villa a year after his transplant. The hospital was celebrating its 5,000th liver transplant.
"People were queuing to have pictures with him," said Mick. "He was being treated like some superstar.
"They are top surgeons in Birmingham, world class, along with gastroenterologist Gideon Hirschfield.
"The QE and my experience there was priceless, I can't praise them highly enough. I've been to top hospitals in London, but this was on a much larger scale.
"It was amazing. The thousands of people they are seeing - it's comparable to an airport."
He said he had written to the family of the donor - a man in his early 60s. Names were anonymous but he was keen to pass on his immense gratitude to his loved ones.
Dr Neil Rajoriya, clinical service lead for liver medicine at UHB, added: “We are very pleased to hear Mr Ketley is doing so well and is in good health following his liver transplant.
“We strive to provide world-class care for patients with liver disease at UHB, with the support of our multi-disciplinary team of highly skilled healthcare professionals and support staff.
“Liver transplantation remains a lifesaving cure for patients, with the donation of a liver often being a second chance of life; something our patients and staff are very grateful to donors and their loved ones for.”