Doctors in London have used a pioneering technique to save the life of an 11-year-old boy from Leitrim.

Luke Martindale had been playing happily in school on a Friday last January, however over the weekend, his health rapidly deteriorated and on the Monday, he was rushed to hospital in Dublin where he was diagnosed with acute liver failure.

He was immediately transferred to King's College Hospital in London, where he was listed for liver transplant surgery. Thankfully, a liver became available soon after, however Luke's condition had deteriorated so much, he was considered too sick to be able to withstand the operation.

According to doctors at King's College Hospital, up to 20% of patients on the waiting list for a liver die before they can be operated on because they are too sick to undergo the surgery.

However as a last resort, doctors decided to put Luke on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), which keeps the heart and lungs going when a patient's own organs start to fail.

ECMO takes over the work of the heart and lungs by removing blood from the patient's body, artificially removing the carbon dioxide and oxygenating the red blood cells, before the blood is returned.

Within two hours of being put on ECMO, Luke's condition had improved so much, he was considered strong enough to undergo the transplant surgery.

Altogether, he was on the ECMO machine for 11 days. It is understood that he is the first child in the UK to be put on ECMO for the purpose of being able to undergo a liver transplant. He is now fit and well.

"I have my little boy back. He was so sick, and everything happened so quickly. He was in intensive care at King's, and before he went on the ECMO machine, he had turned from yellow into an orange/green colour.

"The fact he is here with me and my husband now, and his three brothers and sisters, is amazing. We are so grateful to the team that looked after him, but more importantly the donor, whose generous decision to donate made this possible," said his mother, Norma.

According to Dr Georg Auzinger, a consultant in liver intensive care who led the ECMO team, Luke was ‘so sick' and all conventional treatment options had been explored.

"The fact that ECMO enabled him to undergo life-saving liver transplant surgery is fantastic for him and his family, but also shows that patients in acute liver failure can benefit from this technology.

"In short, this could be hugely significant, and may extend the life of a number of people suffering from acute liver failure who deteriorate on the waiting list because they are currently deemed too sick to undergo transplant surgery," he said.