Brave girl, 6, who had life-saving liver transplant is now rising taekwondo star

A BRAVE six-year-old girl who had a life-saving liver transplant is now a rising taekwondo star.

Luna Lisle was diagnosed with the deadly condition biliary atresia when she was born and had surgery at just a few weeks old.

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But the procedure to repair her bile ducts failed and she had to have a transplant only a month before her first birthday.

Since then, she has been in and out of hospital whenever she gets a temperature as it could damage her new liver.

But Luna has taken it all in her stride and started to learn the martial art taekwondo two years ago, recently earning her green belt.

Mum Isobel, 44, from Sevenoaks, Kent, said: “It’s been a difficult road for her, so we are incredibly proud of what she has managed to achieve.

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"Every time she has a temperature of over 38 degrees, we have to take her straight to hospital as otherwise it could damage her new liver.

"So we have been in and out of hospital since her transplant, but luckily each time she has made a recovery.

"We had no idea that anything was wrong when Luna was first born, but she went downhill quickly.

"She was jaundiced but instinctively I knew that something was wrong with her and insisted that tests were carried out on her.

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"We were shocked when we were told about her condition when she was just three weeks old, and we didn’t know what the future would hold for her.

"When I see her performing Taekwondo is seems hard to believe that she has had to have a new liver to survive.

"She’s a true fighter, and there’s no stopping her.

"I wanted her to learn it to build up her physical strength. She has taken to it amazingly. She loves going.

“When she’s flying through the air like that, its hard to believe that she has ever been poorly."

Luna has also learned to pony ride and was a flower girl at her mum and dad Andrew’s wedding in 2019.

A spokeswoman for the Children’s Liver Disease Foundation said: ‘It hasn’t been easy for her since her liver transplant, but Luna has done amazingly well.

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