Adonai Te Huikau Nicola Boyles was fighting for her life and had to have a kidney transplant brought forward to stay alive.
Her father Hamuera Boyles underwent surgery in August, donating his kidney to his daughter so she would have a chance to live.
Less than four months later, Adonai is a healthy, happy child that her doctors are calling a "medical miracle".
"The medical staff were quite impressed with my daughter’s recovery because she’s actually the first in history to undergo the kidney transplant unimmunised.
"They were quite worried about that due to not having those immunisations and with sickness and everything around.
"But yes, she’s proven them wrong and she’s healthy as an ox," Mr Boyles said.
Adonai was diagnosed with pneumococcal disease in 2022, shortly after her second birthday.
For the past two years, she has had to fight for her life. Without the transplant, she risked losing her life battling respiratory syncytial virus and hemolytic-uremic syndrome.
The transplant was originally due to take place this month, but Adonai’s worsening condition prompted the doctors to do the operation in August.
Mr Boyles went through 15 medical tests in Southland, Otago and Auckland to ensure he would be physically and medically fit for the procedure and was relieved when he found out he was the best match to donate his kidney to his daughter.
"They (doctors) said that we were almost a perfect match and it’s quite rare for one parent to actually match up to that level with their own child," he said.
Mr Boyles and Adonai had their surgeries in two different departments; he was in Auckland Hospital while his child was in the theatre next door at Starship Children’s Hospital.
"Each surgery actually took about four hours each.
"I actually woke up in the ward directly opposite the Starship building, so I could actually see out the window and see my daughter’s room across the driveway.
"They [doctors] said that everything went excellent, perfectly.
"The only problem was I actually came out with a second-degree chemical burn on my side, so on my hip. I was actually allergic to some of the latex that they used, which I didn’t actually know about.
"I came out with almost an Aotearoa-shaped burn on the side of my hip, so I’ve still got it there. But we are doing really well and we’ve actually come leaps and bounds."
Due to the successful kidney transplant, Adonai will not have to be hooked up to a dialysis machine.
"Our daughter can lead a semi-normal life now," Mr Boyles said.
She did have to take immune suppressant drugs for the rest of her life, but had cut down from taking 13 different drugs every day, to just three or five every other day, he said.
Adonai will no longer have to travel to Auckland for a three-month biopsy, which has been reduced to an annual visit.
"This has freed up our family to get back to normality."
The Boyles whanau were grateful for the help they were given and praised their brave daughter for getting "back on her feet" and continuing to be their "beautiful light in the world".
