The day is soon coming when 5-year-old Ty Stokes will be able to go swimming, eat the foods he wants “and just be a regular little boy again,” his grandmother said.
Stokes, who has battled kidney disease all his life, was the recipient of a kidney transplant Monday at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo.
Iolan Teri Walcott, Stokes’ grandmother, told the Register that he could be dismissed from Children’s Mercy intensive care unit by today, and dismissed from the hospital within the next few weeks.
As fate would have it, Stokes was at Mercy on Sunday for tests when word came that a kidney match had been found.
He was hurriedly prepared for surgery.
“He no longer needs dialysis for the first time in three years,” Walcott said.
Stokes is the son of former Iolans Josh and Rachel Stokes. The family now lives in Chanute.
A fund has been set up for the Stokes family at any Emprise Bank branch. Stokes’ parents will be at the hospital and away from work “for the next couple of weeks,” Walcott said.
The proceeds from the fund will go toward the family’s travel and household expenses while he is recovering.
“He’s doing very well,” Walcott said. “He’s still a little sore and still in bed, but the doctors want him up and moving soon. But he’s gone through this before. He knows what to expect.”
Stokes was born with end-stage level 5 kidney failure.
He had been on a transplant waiting list for more than a year.
“We are all thrilled,” Walcott said. “Now he can lead a normal life again.”
Area youth gets kidney
