A young Geelong boy will travel to Perth later this month to compete in the 2023 World Transplant Games.
Xavier Holt and his mum Narelle Norman speak with Jena Carr about their experience with the transplant and what they’re looking forward to most at the games in this year’s Australian location.
Xavier Holt was only 10 months old when he was diagnosed with hepatoblastoma, a liver cancer that mainly affects young children.
Mum Narelle Norman said she had noticed something wasn’t quite right with Xavier but was shocked to discover the truth about her son’s condition.
“It was a big shock. It was just after his first birthday, so he was one, and he had not been well for a long time,” she said.
“We eventually found a doctor who said, ‘I think I want to give him an ultrasound,’ and that’s when they found that he had this massive mass on his liver.
“He had to have about 10 rounds of chemotherapy, and it just did not shrink the cancer enough. So then after that, they were like, ‘He needs to go on the donor list’.
“I think I was more devastated when I found that out because I thought the chemotherapy was going to fix him, and the transplant blew my socks off.
“I wasn’t quite prepared for that, but it all went smoothly.”
Ms Norman said she had been preparing herself to donate part of her liver to her son when she received the call that there was a liver available for Xavier.
“We’re eternally grateful,” she said.
“He was on the list, maybe a couple of weeks, and I was getting worked up myself because I was going to donate my liver.
“You don’t think about it (donating). You’re just like, ‘I can do this for my kid’.
“They’re (doctors) reluctant to do that because then you have two patients rather than one.
“It was quite ironic that the day I was going to go up and have some more work done to get myself ready (to donate), we got a phone call at two in the morning.
“It all happened at once, so thankfully I didn’t have to donate. I definitely would have, but at least then I wasn’t in hospital recovering while he was recovering. I was able to be there with him.”
Xavier is now 10 and lives a happy and healthy life with his family, pet guinea pig and rabbit.
Ms Norman said the family looked forward to travelling to Perth to watch Xavier compete in the 2023 World Transplant Games.
“He does love his sport, that’s for sure. He’s very sporty. He loves his animals and playing basketball, cricket or football with his brother Isaac,” she said.
“We were wanting to do the games so that he could meet people who have had a similar experience and potentially make some lifelong friends that he could talk with over future years.
“We love to travel as well. We’ll take any opportunity to get away and experience new things. So, it was a good opportunity.”
The World Transplant Games will take place from April 15 to April 21 and is a week of sport and celebration for people who have received a life-saving transplant.
Xavier said he couldn’t wait to participate in the games and was grateful for the second chance at life the transplant had given him.
“I’m so grateful for this opportunity to acknowledge the precious gift of life my donor has given me,” he said.
“Without them I wouldn’t be here today.”
Xavier will compete in the tennis, athletics and tenpin bowling categories within the games, and Ms Norman said his family were proud to support him.
“Myself, my husband and his brother will go to the five-kilometre fun-run, and I think that’s the only event we can do, but we can support Xavier with all the other things,” she said.
“He’s looking forward to it. It’s interesting as they’re not the sports he tends to do at home.
“He doesn’t have tennis lessons, and he went tenpin bowling for the first time a few weeks ago.
“His dad has really supported him, getting him to know the sports, so that hopefully he’ll do fine.”
Ms Norman said one of the main reasons Xavier and his family wanted to be a part of the Transplant Games was to pay their respects to the organ donors and their families.
“Our purpose is really to go and meet families with similar experiences and to show our gratitude for the donor family,” she said.
The Transplant Games promote the importance of transplantation and encourage people to register as organ or tissue donors.
Transplant Australia chief executive and World Transplant Games Federation president Chris Thomas said he wanted to spread the positive message of the lives saved thanks to donors.
“These Games demonstrate what transplant recipients can achieve on the sporting field,” he said.
“Every Australian can make a difference by registering as a donor. It takes just one minute but has the potential to give someone years of extra life.”
