A young man who spent a decade battling a chronic disease has now had his first liver transplant.

Harry Chambers, 20, was first diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis when he was just 10 years old.

“He came home from school one day, and my next door neighbour was round,” mum Claire explained.

“She said to me that he didn’t look right, he looked very yellow.

“I suppose if I am with him all the time I don’t really notice it, but she was right.

“I rung my local doctors and they asked to see him straight away.

“As soon as we walked in they contacted the hospital. From that day on he spent numerous weeks in hospital before being transferred to King’s.”

The chronic condition, also known as AIH, is an autoimmune disorder, where the body’s immune system attacks its own cells and damages organs.

It is estimated to affect between 10 and 17 people per 100,000 in Europe, with approximately 10,000 people living with it in the UK.

Some of the symptoms include nausea, muscle pain, jaundice, bruising and feeling very tired.

The cause of AIH is still unclear and there is currently no cure.

Claire said: “They reckon it was where he hit puberty – all his hormones had brought it out even more.

“You just don’t know what’s going on. It’s scary.

“We took him to the doctor because he was a little bit jaundiced and then you are being told he has a life-long disease.

“You want to take it away from them and you have it, because you know you can deal with it better because you are older,” she added.

“But you can’t do that. You just have to live with it and help them as much as possible.”

The 44-year-old, from Swanscombe, says that due to having no immune system, Harry is much more likely to catch colds, which can be 10 times worse than everyone else.

As a result, Harry has missed out on the vital early years of his education and also caught Covid twice – one of which led to him being hospitalised for a week.

“I have actually lost track of how many times we have been in and out, how many procedures he has had done,” Claire explained. “Over the past 10 years it’s been a lot.

“He missed the first six months of secondary school because he had no immune system.

“Then he did go back but could only do English and maths – he had no energy and would have to come home to sleep.

“The first year his attendance was about 30% in the end.”

The family have tried a variety of medications, none of which have helped Harry’s condition.

He then developed cirrhosis, which is the result of long-term, continuous damage to the liver.

As a result, a year ago he was put on the list to have a transplant and last month Harry spent eight hours in surgery at King's College Hospital in London.

Claire said: “We were told the liver could be incompatible two or three times before a correct match is found.

“We were so lucky to get that first match, it was absolutely amazing. There was a man in hospital who was on his fourth attempt.

‘We were told the liver could be incompatible two or three times before a correct match is found.’

“It’s a mixture of emotions – you are petrified and scared – there was a high possibility he wouldn’t have come out of the theatre.

“But you are also really grateful that this liver has been found.”

After spending three weeks in hospital, Harry now has six months of recovery at home where he will be slowly regaining his strength.

The mum-of-four says that he cannot walk very far and regularly has to take naps.

“He is gradually getting better, but he can’t lift anything heavy, not even a jug of water,” she said.

“They cut through his main muscle in his stomach, so sitting up and standing straight is really painful for him. It’s not been easy.”

Claire has set up a GoFundMe to raise money for a new gaming computer – one of Harry’s passions – to reward him on his return.

If you would like to donate, please click here.

She added: “There is a high possibility that in 20 or 30 years he could have to go through all of this again.

“It is horrible to think about, but Harry is always in the here and now, which is good. He just got on with everything that was thrown at him.”