‘Miracle Boy’ living with renal failure for 14 years

In the tense days leading up to the Tivoli Gardens incursion of May 23, 2010, the community was on edge.

Gunfire rang out sporadically, and movement was restricted as security forces prepare to storm the enclave. Residents were too afraid to leave their homes. Trapped inside her home, Annika Williams went into labour, unable to make it to a hospital. On May 7, 2010, she delivered her son, Jonathan Campbell, by herself. But his birth was only the beginning of a much greater battle, one for his very survival.

"From day one, it was just not nice," Williams recalled. "Mi realise after the baby born, by the third day di baby Pampers dry, mi know something wrong. Mi carry him go Children's Hospital, and dem admit him same time."

Jonathan was diagnosed with end-stage renal failure, a condition where the kidneys lose nearly all their function and can no longer remove waste from the body. He was just three days old. Doctors didn't expect him to live past one year old. But after two years, Jonathan remained hospitalised at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI). One of his kidneys had never developed, and the other was failing. He underwent multiple surgeries and gruelling treatments.

Although Jonathan was born with end-stage renal disease, doctors managed his condition without dialysis for four years, carefully controlling his blood pressure, acid levels, and potassium. But by age six, his kidneys could no longer function well enough, and he had to start dialysis.

"There were days when mi nuh have even a tin a feeding," Williams said. "But mi can tell yuh, there is a God. Every day, Him provide." The struggle wasn't just emotional, it was financial.

"Mi remember when mi owe UHWI over a million dollars, and mi look up and tell God, 'Mi nuh know why yuh give mi this baby, but mi nuh know what fi do with him,'" she said.

The burden was so heavy that, at her breaking point, she collapsed in Cross Roads, hitting her head. When she regained her senses, she resolved to push forward.

"Mi start look pan di baby different and appreciate our life more despite the odds," she said. Williams then found help from the Kidney Support Foundation of Jamaica, founded by Dr Maolynne Miller, a paediatric nephrologist. The foundation did not give direct cash, but it covered the cost of critical services Jonathan needed, helping to ease the financial strain. Against all odds, Jonathan survived. His resilience earned him the nickname 'Miracle Boy' among hospital staff.

Williams told THE STAR, "I remember when we did deh a di University Hospital, [a doctor] was visiting and she hear him name and turn round and say, 'Jonathan Campbell? Him still here?' And when mi say yes, she asked shockingly, 'As in, him still in the land of the living?'"

Jonathan is 14 years old and a student at Kingsway High School, where he attends three times a week due to his dialysis schedule. His kidney condition has stunted his growth, making him appear much younger, but he is full of life and confidence.

"If him not in skinny pants, him not leaving the house," Williams joked. "Sixty ben' foot, enuh! But him so confident."

Jonathan has never missed a dialysis session, thanks to Miller.

"She's always there," Williams said. Miller, who is a specialist in paediatric kidney diseases, emphasised the importance of early detection. Her team works with schools, workplaces, and physicians to spread awareness and ensure early intervention. Data on paediatric kidney disease in Jamaica is limited, but the last available survey (2007-2012) estimated that seven out of a million children under-12 suffer from chronic kidney disease. Many cases could be prevented with earlier detection and treatment. Miller explained that while Jonathan urgently needs a kidney transplant, his mother is not a match. The next step for Jonathan is to find a live donor, a process that requires careful matching and testing.

"A living donor transplant would significantly improve his quality of life," Miller noted. "It would free him from dialysis and allow him to live more normally."