Warning as ‘fit and healthy’ 14-year-old dies after tummy ache
Maisie Almond was eventually rushed to hospital after turning yellow due to jaundice.
Patients could be at risk of death due to a “national shortage” of liver donations, it has been warned. The warning comes after a “fit and healthy” 14-year-old girl died weeks after first complaining of a stomach ache.
Maisie Almond, from Manchester, initially told her parents she had a tummy ache, which the family believed was a routine stomach bug. But her condition soon deteriorated and she later developed jaundice. After falling ill on September 15, 2024, Maisie was taken by her parents to A&E at Tameside General Hospital in Greater Manchester the following day, where doctors made the alarming discovery that her liver had turned yellow.
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The “model pupil”, who also held two part-time jobs, was diagnosed with hepatitis.
Over the next ten days, she was admitted to hospital on three separate occasions as her condition continued to worsen.
Extensive investigations failed to identify any infections, genetic conditions or other clear causes behind the sudden failure of her liver.
Maisie, who had dreamed of backpacking around the world and hoped to become an accountant, was later transferred to the Liver Centre at Leeds General Infirmary on September 26.
The following day, she was placed on the transplant waiting list as a “super-urgent” case.
She was transferred to a specialist unit and placed at the top of the transplant list. However, despite efforts to find a suitable donor organ, her condition worsened before surgery could take place.
The 14-year-old died after suffering severe complications caused by the rapid failure of her liver.
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Adrian Farrow, assistant coroner for Manchester South, ruled that she died from cerebral oedema and multi-organ failure and seronegative acute liver failure during an inquest into her death, which concluded on February 26.
He said: “During the inquest, I heard evidence from a consultant paediatric hepatologist that there is a national shortage of donor livers generally and particularly for children in the 'super urgent' category.
“The clinical guidance not to utilise cardiac death donor livers in such cases due to the poor historical outcomes has narrowed the pool of suitable donor livers to those arising from brain deaths.
“Altruistic living liver donations are generally not available for super urgent cases.
“The evidence I received was that the number of donor livers has reduced by a third and the effect is that whereas, historically, a donor liver could be expected to be made available within 48 hours, the wait has now extended to up to a week.”
An NHS Blood and Transplant spokesperson said: “It’s tragic that Maisie could not receive a lifesaving transplant in time and our thoughts are with her family.
“Sadly, hundreds of people die waiting for a transplant every year while thousands of potentially lifesaving organs are not donated. More lives would be saved if more people donated.
“There is also a national challenge in how many people are healthy enough to donate. The potential donor pool is changing, as the population ages and people’s lifestyles change. The total number of donor livers has dropped by around 12% since the COVID pandemic.
“And fewer people can donate following the confirmation of death through brain stem death testing. More people become donors following the confirmation of death from circulatory death. This has more impact on paediatric liver patients, as the rely more on donors where death has been confirmed through brain stem death testing.
“We’re working with partners to maintain or increase donation. We are also trying to increase organ utilisation and the number of transplants through increasing the number of split liver transplants, increasing the use of new technology such as perfusion to keep livers healthy enough for transplant, and improving access to living liver donation.
“People on the super urgent list are given national priority for transplants. The national waiting time for super urgent paediatric liver transplants is comparable to pre-pandemic."
