Daniel Cornet, 12, from Dunfermline, who was born with renal failure and has endured more than 30 operations, has reached a milestone his family feared he would never see: his first day of high school. He was Scotland's youngest dialysis patient before receiving a life-saving kidney from his aunt Carolyn Cornet, described as the family's "superhero".
A challenging start to life
Daniel suffered kidney complications in the womb, which stopped his organs developing properly. His mother, Louise, discovered the problems at her 20-week scan, and when Daniel was born, doctors told his parents he had end-stage renal failure.
Over the following months, he went through several surgeries as doctors tried to determine what was wrong with his kidneys, but the severity of the damage soon became apparent. At 10 months old, Daniel had one of his kidneys removed and was placed on dialysis, making him the country's youngest ever patient at the time. He endured 10 hours a night, lying in bed hooked up to a machine.
A perfect match
Knowing Daniel would require a kidney transplant, the family searched for a live donor after being told it was his best hope of a normal life. Louise, Carolyn, and a family friend were tested to see if any of them would be a strong enough match. After discovering Carolyn was a 100 per cent match, she went through with the donation without a second thought.
Speaking after the 2017 operation, Louise said: "Carolyn is just incredible and we can't thank her enough for what she's done. She saved Daniel's life - and she did it without a moment's hesitation. She's the most selfless person I know and Carolyn and Daniel will always share a special bond."
A milestone reached
Despite regular ongoing care, Daniel has thrived thanks to his new kidney. This week, Louise spoke of her pride at seeing her son head off for his first day at St Columba's High School, just days after they celebrated his 12th birthday. She paid tribute to the renal and urology teams at Glasgow's Royal Hospital for Children, who have helped Daniel throughout his journey.
Louise said: "At one point you didn't believe it was ever going to happen so to see him doing all these things is amazing. At one point in life Daniel had spent more time in hospital in Glasgow than he had at home in Dunfermline. There have been ups and downs. It's not an easy journey. He was in hospital last week and only got out on Monday and started school on the Wednesday. It's constant. But we've got there and finally we're at high school. You never know how long these things will last. But he's doing good just now and we just hope everything keeps going well in the future."
Carolyn was particularly emotional to see Daniel start high school. The family are dedicated to raising awareness for kidney donation and research, often working with charities like Kidney Kids Scotland. Louise said: "Carolyn is doing great since donating the kidney and has had no problems at all. It's really important to Daniel to keep raising awareness in the hope it will help others like him."
