Birmingham woman in BAME donor campaign has liver transplant

A woman at the centre of an appeal for more people from ethnic backgrounds to be organ donors has received a "second chance" with a liver transplant.

Sunaina Paul, 31, of Bearwood in the West Midlands, was a priority on the transplant list but a shortage of BAME donors meant finding a match was more difficult.

She has now had a successful operation and is recovering in hospital.

Her aunt Jaimini Lakhani said the family felt "blessed" and "grateful".

Ms Paul, who is a British Punjabi, was born with Biliary Atresia, a condition in which bile ducts in the liver are blocked, leading to a build up of bile, which causes damage to the liver.

Mrs Lakhani said in January a potential transplant had been unable to go ahead as the liver was too large.

When the coronavirus pandemic broke out, Ms Paul, who lives with her sister, was asked to shield but her condition had been deteriorating, her aunt said.

On Monday she received a call from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham to say it had a potential liver for her. The transplant took place on Tuesday and her family were later told it had been successful.

"We were just all in absolute joy, tears, such a bag of emotions," said Mrs Lakhani.

"We just feel really blessed, we are massively grateful."

Under new laws that came into effect earlier this month, organ donation has become automatic in England unless people opted out, however the family were not yet aware if this had impacted on the organ Ms Paul received.

"We are just looking forward to bringing her home," said Mrs Lakhani.

"She has a chance to live life pain-free and live life as a normal 30-something and be given a second chance."