The family of a young Scots girl were told she will eventually need a transplant after the five-year-old was diagnosed with a rare kidney condition that will cause the organs to fail.
Mum Emily Patterson, from Stranraer, travels over two hours to get to the Glasgow Children's Hospital so daughter Victoria can receive care for her rare ailment.
The family make the trip almost every month after Victoria was diagnosed with nephrotic syndrome, which causes her to pass too much protein in her urine. The brave schoolgirl also has pulmonary stenosis, which affects her heart.
The family knew something was wrong with their daughter shortly after she was born and it has been a long journey to her diagnosis, Glasgow Live reports.
Mum-of-three Emile said: "Victoria was born in December 2017 and when she was three weeks old she was taken to Dumfries hospital because she was really unwell.
"They did some tests and they found out that she had a heart murmur. Originally they thought it was caused by a hole in the heart which would close itself, however, during that same visit they found blood in her urine.
"She was in and out of hospital quite often with illnesses. They kept monitoring this murmur that she had and later found that she had a heart condition which was causing the murmur.
"Victoria has pulmonary stenosis, which means the valves in her heart are thin so they struggle to pump the blood away. When the time comes she'll need surgery to repair that.
"Her paediatrician was still finding blood in her urine during every single test. In September 2019, they decided to investigate why - and the next day I got a phone call saying that we needed to be in hospital ASAP because if it is what they think it is Victoria need treatment straight away.
"We were in hospital for five nights after Victoria was diagnosed with nephrotic syndrome, a rare kidney condition. She has very high levels in her urine. So she started on steroids and other diuretics but it wasn't really helping.
"I got told one time that there were 5200mg of protein in her urine, normal people would just have 15mg. We were told to head to Glasgow Children's Hospital and go to the renal ward. She had a lot of tests to find out why her medication wasn't working. We were later told that the condition was genetic.
"If it was normal nephrotic syndrome she would go into remission, but with it being genetic it won't go away. At some point in her life, her kidneys will fail and she will need a transplant."
Both Emily and dad Paul were left shocked when they were told that their youngest child will need to go through major surgery later in life. Emily said: "I need to cope with it because Victoria needs me to be strong. When I was first told it felt like the whole world came crashing down. I had questioned why this was happening to Victoria?"
The five-year-old remains positive despite the condition having weakened her immune system and causing swelling on her face and body. Victoria loves road trips from Stranraer to the hospital and her bubbly personality always shines through, with her making friends with the staff.
Proud mum Emily said: "She doesn't know any different and she is always smiling. She loves going to the hospital, she shouts 'yay' when we arrive in the car. She is always excited to see Dr Ben Reynolds. She just gets on with it which is good. Victoria is going to be back and forth to hospital now for the rest of her life, so it is good that she is comfortable."
Now the Patterson family are trying to raise money for Glasgow Children's Hospital Charity, with the loving mum wanting to give back to those who have helped her daughter.
She said: "They do so much for us. We have two other children and they include them in everything. During hospital stays they help with meal vouchers because if you are there for a long time it can add up financially.
"The play team are always there to help. They arrange days out for the children as well. The one we went on was the M & D's Santa's Grotto and we were able to take our other two kids as well. Sometimes you worry that they may be forgotten about but the children's charity supports the whole family."
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