A 12-YEAR-old Ludlow boy is celebrating the opening of a new kidney unit that will make a huge difference to his quality of life.

Ben Braggins has suffered illhealth from birth because his kidneys were not fully formed and has spent many months of his young life in hospital.

He has seen more than enough of the inside of hospital wards and operating theatres, having been on kidney dialysis since the age of just seven months.

Ben has also had two kidney transplants but unfortunately both of them ended in rejection.

However, he hopes to have the operation again at some time in the future with the hope that it will be successful.

Every night, the cricket mad youngster spends 10 hours on dialysis at home to take impurities from his blood.

The reason for his celebrations is the opening of a new £2.7 million kidney unit at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, specifically geared to the needs of young people.

It will treat 1,500 young people every year and the design of the unit has incorporated ideas from Ben and other young patients.

There are flat screen televisions and the floor pattern resembles a pebbled stream.

The unit also includes state-ofthe- art features including a special unit where families can relax and make a drink while they are waiting for their children to undergo treatment.

“It’s brilliant, really light with bright colours and murals and the outpatients department is so big now that I can even play cricket in there,” said Ben.

Knowing his love of cricket, the hospital has also arranged for tickets to enable him to watch a Test match and Worcestershire County Cricket Club gave him tickets for a county game.

The new kidney unit is the first in the country to combine surgical, medical and nursing expertise for children with kidney and urinary diseases in a single clinical area and one of the few with dialysis and transplant facilities under the same roof.