Ella Chadwick walks for the first time

Ella Chadwick

Seven-year-old Ella Chadwick has beaten the odds and has walked for the first time.

Ella, a pupil at Tonacliffe Primary School, Whitworth, needed a lifesaving kidney transplant last year after being born with Nephrotic syndrome, a rare illness that saw her needing both kidneys removed.

Ella has previously walked with a frame, but now she is able to stand and walk without any help.

Speaking to Rochdale Online, Ella’s mum, Karen Hughes, said: “I can’t really explain what it was like to see her take those steps. I don’t know if it was because I had accepted that she may never do it and that I may never see it happen, so to see her do it was just a brilliant moment.

“We are so proud of her and she was so happy with herself and she was just so chuffed that she had done it. She was saying ‘my legs are working'.”

In 2012 her dad Martin donated one of his kidneys, but Ella’s body rejected the organ and she was initially told that she would not be able to have another transplant, leaving her needing dialysis and shortening her life expectancy.

But following further tests, it was found that her gran, Christina, could be a new donor.

Since the transplant, Ella has moved on leaps and bounds. She can walk unaided, has also sat down for her first proper Christmas Day dinner, been able to open an advent calendar and had her first chocolate Easter Eggs.

Before the transplant, Ella was on a strict diet meaning items such as chocolate, potatoes, gravy and even bananas were off limits.

Karen added: “She has just got so much energy now and is so happy.”