5-year-old receives new stomach to fight rare disease

BOSTON — A 5-year-old boy is recovering after a stomach transplant, but that hasn’t taken the smile off his face.

Lucas St. Onge of Lowell is still at Boston Children’s Hospital where he’s been frequently throughout his childhood.

"He was a very sick boy before he was even born,” Lucas’ mother Heather St. Onge said.

Lucas was diagnosed in utero with severe combined immune deficiency (SCIDs) and short bowel syndrome.

"He's the only one in the world right now with his current diagnosis,” Heather said.

Lucas received bone marrow from his older brother to help lessen the effects of SCIDs, but the intestinal disorder remained.

“His stomach didn't move the food, like he didn't absorb any food whatsoever in his stomach,” his mother said.

An IV has fed him since birth, but it’s taken its toll on his liver.

He needed a transplant and after a wait of nearly two years, they found a match!

"On his birthday we got the phone call,” Heather said. "He received a small intestine, a liver, a stomach a pancreas and a spleen.”

Just this week he began eating real food.

His preschool teachers even brought his graduation to him.

Lucas is recovering ahead of schedule. Doctors originally projected six to eight weeks in the hospital, but since he's doing so well, his mother says they could send him home next week.

Cox Media Group