EXCLUSIVE

by Gerry Warren

gwarren@thekmgroup.co.uk

A boy struck down with E.coli on a family holiday will now need a kidney transplant, his parents revealed today.

Little Bodie Elliot's parents Vernon and Emma were left devastated after doctors told them.

The four-year-old, from Canterbury, already needs daily medicine and regular trips to hospital because of damage caused by the illness.

But his mum and dad have said which ever of them is the best match, will give him one of their kidneys when the time comes.

The couple all had stomach upsets after eating at a hotel in the popular resort of Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt in September 2008.

When they returned home, Bodie quickly became increasingly ill and was taken to hospital.

Bodie nearly died after suffering kidney failure and to be put on dialysis and have a blood transfusion.

But he continues to need hospital care and is now being treated at Great Ormond Street Hospital.

A consultant there has just told the family Bodie's kidneys are only functioning at around 50 per cent capacity.

Doctors have warned he will probably need a transplant before he reaches puberty, when demand on the organs increases.

Mr Elliott, 42, of Alfred Road, Thanington, said: "The last 18 months have been the worst of our lives and we are devastated to be told that Bodie will need another kidney.

"He has really been through the mill but he is a little fighter and a hero to us who keeps on smiling through it all.

"We had hoped he was going to pull through and make a full recovery but now we know there will be ramifications for the rest of his life."

Mr Elliot also said the couple remained locked in legal dispute with the hotel over what they claim were poor food hygiene standards that led to themselves and Bodie falling ill after eating a beef lasagne from a buffet.

But in an email to the family, the hotel's insurers deny any responsibility claiming no other guests reported feeling ill at the time.

It added that the business is regularly inspected for health and hygiene and its procedures found to be "acceptable and appropriate".

Mr Elliott said: "It's put a huge emotional and financial strain on us because our solicitors are having problems getting our holiday insurers to finance our legal claim."

He says the family ate exclusively at the hotel.

He said: "I will continue to fight for compensation for my son but we also want to make people aware of what a deadly bug this is because we wouldn't want another family and child to go through what we have."

Mrs Elliott, 34, also revealed she was six months pregnant and Bodie would soon have a little brother.

She said: "We didn't want him to be an only child but we have put it off because of all the problems."