Daily Mirror - 19.08.2019

mirror.co.uk MONDAY 19.08.2019 DAILY MIRROR^21

DM1ST

has not been well enough to

return but the family hope

they can go home this year.

Mirror boy Max Johnson, 11,

was guest of honour at the

World Transplant Games in

Newcastle yesterday. He

honked the horn to start a race

and took part in an event.

Max, of Winsford, Cheshire,

fronted the Mirror’s victorious

Change the Law for Life

campaign – from 2020 all

adults in England will be

classed as having agreed

to be organ donors

unless they opt out.

[email protected]

@AmyClareMartin

VOICE OF THE

MIRROR: PAGE 8

at 12 weeks. She spent two

years on dialysis until she

was able to receive a kidney

from dad Dion last August.

Danielle said: “We had to

wait for her to put on weight

before they could go ahead

with the operation.

“She has been through so

much since the transplant.

“We feared her life was in

serious danger after she

repeatedly developed sepsis

but she has continued to

pull through.”

As a baby, Mia was

flown from her home in

Gibraltar to London for

treatment at Evelina Chil-

dren’s Hospital. She

it.” Mia was born with a rare

condition – autosomal reces-

sive polycystic kidney disease

• that made her kidneys
  become much too large.
  It caused life-threatening
  complications such as a mini-
  stroke and severe breathing
  and digestive problems.
  She had one kidney removed
  aged six weeks and the second

SAVIOUR Spaniel Henry

Sniffing out

hedgehogs

A SNIFFER dog is being
trained to detect hedge-
hogs in a bid to save their
dwindling population.
Henry the spaniel can
sniff out hedgehogs 250
yards away, so they can be
moved before land devel-
opment projects begin.
Their numbers in Britain
have halved since 2000 as
their habitats are razed.
Lucy Bearman-Brown of
Hartpury University,
Gloucester, said if the
research is a success, more
dogs can be trained.

DAMAGE The Qing vase

£230k sale of

cracked vase

A RARE 18th century
Chinese vase found during
a house clearance has sold
for £230,000.
The 10-inch tall antique,
from the Qing dynasty, was
expected to fetch only £100
because it has cracks.
An OAP from Felixstowe,
Suffolk, sold the vase to
fund his care home, having
inherited it from his aunt.
Local auctioneer Nigel
Papworth said it went to a
Chinese buyer, adding:
“When I put the hammer
down, I was shaking.”

MIRACLE OF MIA

EXCLUSIVE

BY AMY-CLARE MARTIN

TOGETHER Danielle Mia and Dion

ROARED on by the crowd,

a girl who had both

kidneys removed takes

part in a race weeks after

walking for the first time.

Mia Mifsud, three, who

had a transplant and battled

five bouts of sepsis, was the

youngest competitor at the

British Transplant Games.

Her mum Danielle, 34, said

watching her cross the finish

line in the 25-metre race for

under-fives was “very special”.

She added: “It showed how

far she has come and what a

determined little girl she is.

“I don’t think I’ll ever forget

Kidney transplant girl finishes

race 3 weeks after first steps

SERIOUSLY ILL Mia at two weeks HONOUR Young Max

ON THE RIGHT TRACK

Mia in race at the Games