An eight-year-old Enniskillen boy described by his mother as “our brave wee superman” will soon start dialysis after his kidney function dropped to 14 per cent in the past few weeks.

Mary Dolan’s son Joshua was admitted to South West Acute Hospital last month where it was discovered that he had only one kidney and it was working at just 17 per cent. In recent weeks, the little boy’s condition has worsened and now he desperately needs a kidney transplant.

“We have been told his kidney function is now at 14 per cent, in the next few months the doctors will start him on dialysis,” Mary told The Impartial Reporter this week.

“He goes for bloods tests every week to check potassium levels and kidney function. He is being strong but gets tired a lot from all the medication. He’s on 14 tablets a day and will be on more.

“As his kidney is not doing what it should be doing the living donor team is now looking for a healthy living donor as this is his best chance,” she said.

Joshua had been suffering from pain in his side for the past year and his mother had sought medical attention on more than one occasion.

“They [the medical professionals] always said he had a viral infection. But he is incontinent at night and he is only eight years old.

“They thought the pain was because of his autism.

“Now we know it was coming from the kidney itself because it was failing. They kept Joshua in overnight and ran a scan and during the scan they saw that he had only one kidney. Usually people can survive on one but because his is so small it really is high risk at the minute.

“There is no treatment and they are trying to sort other issues in his body that the kidney has affected. I’ve just bene told he suffers from bone disease and that all comes from the kidney. I did not know that before. I don’t know where to turn,” she said.

Mary is now hoping that someone might be able to come forward to help save her son’s life.

“We would be really grateful if people could get in touch if they wish to be a donor so we can start the process as its just breaking our hearts watching him go through all he has been going through.

“But throughout it all he has been our brave wee superman,” she said.

Mary has expressed her thanks to her friends and family and the Royal Children’s Hospital and South West Acute Hospital “for their care in the last few weeks and continuing support”.

Anyone who thinks they might be in a position to help Joshua is asked to call 02895043079.