At one year old, Wallis was diagnosed with hollow visceral myopathy, a rare type of intestinal pseudo-obstruction that would prevent his digestive system from properly moving food or absorbing nutrients. For the first 20 years of his life, Wallis had to eat and drink intravenously until he found a liver, intestine, stomach and pancreas transplant from a donor. The four-organ recipient, who became a pharmacist, said doctors told him his rare disease would not be genetically passed on to his children. But at one year old, his son Owen began showing similar signs: a bloated belly, frequent vomiting and an inability to grow or gain enough weight for his age. “Once the genetic testing came out basically, we confirmed what we hoped was not true and that he had the condition,” Wallis told CBC Toronto. Wallis said his son suffered an acute septic episode at the age of two when his intestinal tract became infected, spread throughout his body and required his small intestine to be removed. That’s when the toddler went on the organ transplant list. Darryl Wallis said his son is recovering well after major surgery two weeks ago. (Submitted by Darryl Wallis) “It’s like a kick in the gut,” said Jamie Wallis, Owen’s mother. “I knew through Darryl and his mom… everything he’d been through in his childhood and his adult years and how difficult his life was. And then to imagine my son going through the same life… it was terrifying.” After about two years of waiting, the young boy underwent a 12-hour operation to receive the four organs on July 30 at Toronto’s SickKids Hospital and is doing better than expected, his father said. The parents don’t know who the donor was, she said. “All we know is that one would be about his size because he’s only five years old and quite small for his age,” he said.
A transplant was the only life-saving option, says the doctor
In November, it will be 16 years since Wallis received his life-saving transplant at Toronto General Hospital in 2007. Dr. Anand Ghanekar, a transplant surgeon at Toronto General Hospital, said that without the transplant, Wallis would not have been able to live, with no other options. “For many people, the only option is organ transplantation from a deceased donor,” said Ghanekar, who specializes in abdominal organ donor transplantation in adults and children. Before going on the transplant waiting list, the father had suffered end-stage liver failure after having to rely on IV fluids for 20 years. “The doctors basically said to my family, we’re going to try to keep him alive long enough for the transplant technology to advance enough,” Wallis said. Wallis said many of the same doctors and nurses who operated on him in 2007 were involved in his son’s transplant operation 16 years later. “Coming back here and seeing my old doctors and nurses, it was a comfort level … just knowing that the care he was getting was the care I had been getting, so you’re optimistic about the outcome,” Wallis said. Ghanekar said Toronto General and SickKids have only seen several cases of the rare inherited condition in recent decades. While Wallis had a difficult initial recovery, Ghanekar said the progress he has made speaks to how life-changing the surgery has been. For the first 20 years of his life, Darryl Wallis had to eat and drink intravenously until he underwent a liver, bowel, stomach and pancreas transplant. He is sharing his story so more people can know the life-saving impact of organ donation on patients like himself and his son. (Submitted by Darryl Wallis) “[Darryl] he has made an amazing recovery and truly demonstrated the power of organ transplantation. [It] it completely saved his life and allowed him to have a really great quality of life,” Ghanekar said. “Without organ transplantation, none of this would be possible.” He said in the case of children, it’s important for more Ontarians to know the impact of organ transplants. “It’s very important to create as many transplant opportunities as possible for children because they are disproportionately affected and disadvantaged in some ways in terms of waiting time,” Ghanekar said.
More than 1,500 Ontarians on the waiting list
There are more than 1,500 people waiting for organ transplants in Ontario, according to the Trillium Gift of Life Network, a government agency responsible for the province’s organ donation system. The family hopes that by sharing their story, they can encourage more people to give the generous gift of organ donation. “Just one donor can provide organs for up to eight different people. So it’s really an amazing gift to be able to give,” Wallis said. Owen Wallis, center, is pictured with his parents Darryl, left, and Jamie Wallis, right. Daryl Wallis said the family does not know who donated the organs Owen received. (Submitted by Darryl Wallis) “After you’ve lived your life, after you’ve done everything you know, to be able to go on and give that second chance to so many people is just an amazing thing.” There is so much hope now for his future, – Jamie Wallis, Owen’s mother As for Owen, his mother says he is doing well after the surgery and has already been able to walk again. “There is so much hope now for his future,” Jamie Wallis said. “Watching him post-transplant … you feel like he’s got this, that he’s going to have all these milestones that we hoped he would have in his life. Before the transplant, we didn’t know it would be like this. “ “The guy’s a little firecracker. He’s not going anywhere anytime soon. He’s going to make the most of this life and he’s got a lot of fight in him and a lot of drive.”
