Inspirational little boy Kacey Ogg has gone from being given no chance of survival to winning gold at the Transplant Games
A four-year-old boy has won gold and bronze medals at the Transplant Games just a short time after his parents were told he would not survive a devastating illness.
Kacey Ogg, was born a healthy baby in October 2020. But when he was just eight weeks old he became extremely ill when a blood clot prevented the blood flow to his small intestine.
The condition required three operations at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, with his anxious parents saying they were told each time that he was not expected to survive.
In the third operation, surgeons said that he had blood clots in his major organs and his chances of survival were low.
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“He was in a very desperate situation,” said Kacey’s dad Michael Ogg, from Chorley. “I was told many times that he wasn’t going to survive.”
While Kacey survived the surgery, he was left with a short gut meaning that he was unable to eat or drink and had to be fed intravenously 14 hours every day.
While this treatment kept him alive, over time it began to damage his liver, adding yet another problem to his illness.
When Kacey was two years old he was referred to Birmingham Children’s Hospital, where he was placed on a waiting list for multiple organ transplants as he need both a liver and an intestine.
But even at this stage, doctors were concerned that Kacey was too frail to survive a transplant and he was nearly taken off the waiting list due to a low chance of surviving the surgery.
His need for multiple organs, and also needing organs which would match his size, meant that finding a suitable donor was also extremely difficult.
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But despite the astronomical odds, Kacey’s family received the call that they had been praying for.
“Throughout these four years he’s been an absolute miracle,” said ops manager Michael, 47. “He’s recovered amazingly well.
“Doctors had papers on him in an annual meeting in Cambridge this year.”
Kacey received an intestine, liver, pancreas, and colon transplant.
Despite the incredible odds against him, Kacey recently competed at the 2025 Transplant Games in Oxford, where he won a gold medal in archery and a bronze in sprint.
For his parents Michael and Victoria, seeing their little boy competing and thriving was a joy beyond words.
“It was elation,” said Michael. “We’re still reeling now.”
“He’s full of vitality. To see him in those games is indescribable. We are just so, so happy.”
The Transplant Games are sponsored by the charity Transplant Active, give people who have had organ transplants the chance to compete together, as well as to raise awareness for the challenges faced by transplant recipients.
In addition to people who have received transplants, there is also a Donor Run, a fun run to help raise money and awareness.
According to Transplant Active, more than 8,000 people are currently in need of a transplant in the UK.
