Benjamin Hardwick (6 December 1981 – 23 March 1985) was Britain's youngest

liver transplant Liver transplantation or hepatic transplantation is the replacement of a diseased liver with the healthy liver from another person (allograft). Liver transplantation is a treatment option for end-stage liver disease and acute liver failure, al ...

patient. He became a celebrity through appearing on the BBC television programme ''

That's Life! ''That's Life!'' was a satirical TV consumer affairs programme on the BBC, at its height regularly reaching audiences of fifteen to twenty million, and receiving 10–15,000 letters a week. The series broadcast on BBC1 for twenty-one years, ...

'' after his parents appealed for more awareness of

organ donation Organ donation is the process when a person allows an organ (anatomy), organ of their own to be removed and organ transplantation, transplanted to another person, #Legislation and global perspectives, legally, either by consent while the donor ...

when their son, who suffered from

biliary atresia Biliary atresia, also known as extrahepatic ductopenia and progressive obliterative cholangiopathy, is a childhood disease of the liver in which one or more bile ducts are abnormally narrow, blocked, or absent. It can be congenital or acquired. I ...

, urgently needed a transplant. While he also became the first child in the country to receive a liver transplant, the initial transplant failed. After a second transplant the following year, he died of complications at the age of 3. Following this event, at least was raised in Hardwick's name to support other seriously ill children. In his memory, his family set up the Ben Hardwick Memorial Fund, which aimed to offer financial support to the families of children who suffer from primary liver disease. British celebrity

Esther Rantzen Dame Esther Louise Rantzen (born 22 June 1940) is an English journalist and television presenter, who presented the BBC television series ''That's Life!'' for 21 years, from 1973 until 1994. She works with various charitable causes, and fou ...

, who hosted ''That's Life!'' and co-wrote a book based on Ben's story, was a trustee on the fund's board. The Ben Hardwick Fund took over the work of the Ben Hardwick Memorial Fund in 1997. Esther Rantzen is patron of the present fund, which helps children suffering from primary liver disease with costs associated with their illness. In 1985

Marti Webb Marti Webb (born 13 December 1943) is an English actress and singer, who appeared on stage in '' Evita'', before starring in Andrew Lloyd Webber's one-woman show '' Tell Me on a Sunday'' in 1980. This included her biggest hit single, " Take Th ...

released as a tribute a cover version of the

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

song "

Ben Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett or Benson, and is also a given name in its own right. Ben (in he, בֶּן, ''son of'') forms part of Hebrew surnames, e.g. Abraham ben Abraham ( ...

", which reached number 5 in the UK charts, the royalties being donated to the Memorial Fund.

Footnotes

External links

Ben Hardwick Fund information site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hardwick, Ben 1981 births 1985 deaths English children Liver transplant recipients Child deaths