Rugby-mad boy is Ulster mascot after emergency surgery

A rugby-mad Lurgan boy was given the chance of a lifetime to present the man of the match award to Ulster's James McNabney after undergoing emergency kidney surgery.

Seven-year-old Ollie Smyth has been diagnosed with the rare, lifelong condition cystinuria, that sees an increased risk of kidney stones.

The Lurgan Rugby Club player was taken to hospital last month after collapsing in pain and had two stents placed in his ureter to help clear the blockage in his right kidney.

Now, back to school and playing rugby, Ollie said it was "really exciting" to be invited to Ulster's win over the Scarlets.

His favourite player Jacob Stockdale sent him a get well soon video message after his operation.

Despite Stockdale not earning the man of the match award, Ollie still got to meet the Ulster and Ireland winger after the game, thanked him for the message and even offered him £10 for missing out on the accolade.

The night was even more special for Ollie as Stockdale, whose junior side is Lurgan RFC, wore the club's red, black and yellow socks to mark his own rugby journey as part of the origin round of the United Rugby Championship.

Ollie is still buzzing from the experience as he was pitch side when Ulster scored the winning try and said it cheered up him before returning to school after his operation.

"It was very exciting and I was a wee bit nervous but it was really good," he said.

"I tried to give [Stockdale] £10 because he's my favourite player."

After being diagnosed with cystinuria and having surgery, Ollie must drink plenty of water, watch his diet and take medication to help manage the condition. He will also have future surgeries.

Ollie's dad Colin said his son had been suffering from a pain in his side for years but it was always put down as a stomach problem.

But after Ollie collapsed in pain last month, his dad and mum, Laura, rushed him to hospital.

"It was a long process to find out what was wrong," explained Colin, who is chairman of Lurgan RFC.

"Kidney stones and bladder stones in children are quite rare, so it was the last thing they looked for; so after the scans he ended up going in for a CT scan.

"That's when they found he had a blockage and his right kidney wasn't draining properly."

While Ollie is currently pain-free, it took a week for him to get back to himself after surgery.

"Kids are very good at bouncing back and he bounced back straight away," said Colin.

"Once he had the surgery we had actually hoped he would be pain-free, but it doesn't work that way.

"They fitted two stents which open up the ureter so that allows the stuff that was blocked to pass through so it took about a week for the pain to subside.

"He gets the odd twinge now and again, but he's bouncing back brilliantly. He's back to school and being cheeky."

Meanwhile, Ollie's brother Niall, 13, who also plays for Lurgan RFC, said the whole family was worried after Ollie was admitted to hospital.

"He's fine now, but he was in a pretty poor state," he said.

"After it has been quite good, because he gave the man of the match award to James McNabney, so life after it has been pretty swell."

Cystinuria is an inherited kidney condition that causes problems with the transportation of an amino acid (a building block of protein) called cystine.

Cystine builds up in the urine to form crystals, which can eventually turn into kidney stones. Repeated kidney stones can cause damage to the kidneys themselves and eventually lead to kidney failure, although this is rare.

Cystinuria is thought to affect about one in 2,000 people in the UK, although many people may be undiagnosed as they do not have any symptoms.

Although kidney stones themselves are common, only 1% of stones in adults are due to cystinuria.

Source: Kidney Care UK