Family of 17-year-old Isaeah Parlett calling for support as he awaits lifesaving kidney transplant
A teenager’s life changed in an instant after a series of misdiagnosed symptoms came to a head and saw him comatose, fighting for his life. Now his grandmother hopes to raise awareness for other families.
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A South East Queensland teenager’s life was turned upside down in what felt like an instant for his family after a series of misdiagnosed symptoms now leave him fighting for his life and desperately waiting for a kidney transplant.
In the lead up to Christmas, 17-year-old Isaeah Parlett began experiencing a build-up of fluid in his legs which doctors put down to a sort of oedema.
Then a rash began, which was thought to be psoriasis and continued a string of unusual symptoms which seemed to be unrelated.
He was acting strangely, waking with delusions of death during the night, telling his mother he feared something was terribly wrong and that he was dying.
On an April morning Isaeah woke to find he’d lost sight in one eye and it wasn’t long after that his body began to swell and fill with fluid.
Rushed to Redland’s Hospital, his grandmother Leslie Mochrie said Isaeah’s blood pressure was so high that he was at risk of a stroke, falling into a coma before being transferred to the Mater Hospital in Brisbane – his doctors feared he wouldn’t make it through the night.
It was at this time doctors discovered his string of unusual symptoms were as a result of a total kidney failure.
“I was on a holiday in Sydney when I got panicked calls from my family, they told me he might not make it through the night,” Mrs Mochrie said.
“I got in the car and drove straight to the hospital.”
Mrs Mochrie said her grandson spent the next five days in intensive care and it would be another four days before he could be released from the hospital.
During this time his mother Tani, who also has a newborn and almost two-year-old, remained outside in the waiting room until he was released from intensive care and moved onto a ward.
“He was only home for a day before he was rushed back, he was undergoing dialysis every second day and when he went back to hospital he was told his lungs were worse than two days before, he had four litres of fluid drained from his body in 48 hours,” she said.
Isaeah is unable to be put on the list for a kidney transplant until doctors can stop his blood clots and fluid retention.
His dreams of returning to TAFE and playing football have suddenly dissipated, with the length of his treatment unknown.
Despite this, he and his family remain positive, with his family working to get tested to see if they’re a possible match for the transplant.
Mrs Mochrie has started a fundraiser to help with the ongoing travel and other costs his family are facing as he continues treatment in Brisbane.
She also hopes to raise awareness around kidney disease to help other families out there catch the symptoms early.
“All I can say to anyone who has donated or wants to donate is thank you, this will make life so much easier on his mother,” she said.
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Originally published as Family of 17-year-old Isaeah Parlett calling for support as he awaits lifesaving kidney transplant
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