Local boy recives gift of life from unlikely source

Hazard Herald | Bailey Richards
Beth Warren is pictured here with Ben Pratt, to whom she donated a kidney last month. (photos courtesy of Shayla Pratt)

Ben Pratt was born at Mary Breckenridge Hospital in Hyden three years ago, and from his first breath his life hasn’t been an easy one. As soon as he was born doctors realized that something was wrong, and quickly transferred him to the medical center at the University of Kentucky in Lexington.

“They sent him to UK because he was having trouble breathing, and they had noticed his lung was collapsed,” said Shayla Pratt, Ben’s mother and a former dialysis nurse. “Once he got there they realized he was in kidney failure.”

Ben, who lives with his parents and sister here in Perry County, stayed for over four months in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at UK. He was cared for in part by Beth Warren, his primary nurse who would became more than a caregiver for young Ben; she would become a lifeline.

“We just got to know her really well,” said Shayla. “After he was discharged she came to all of his birthday parties and always kept in touch with us.”

Ben is now three years old and had spent the last three years undergoing dialysis treatments. His family knew he was going to need a kidney transplant, and as his kidney failure continued to progress they also knew it would be sooner rather than later. Five different family members and close friends were all tested to see if they would be a good candidate for a transplant, but none of them were.

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