Father Who Spent 50,000 Hours Hooked Up to an Intravenous Drip Becomes First Australian to Have a Small Bowel and Kidney Transplant - Vows to Take His Daughter Out to Dinner.

The father-of-two, Australia's first recipient of a small bowel and kidney transplant, is most looking forward to celebrating his daughter's birthday like a normal dad - by going to a restaurant.

Until last month, Boyle, 47, had only 25 centimeters of small intestine.
But five weeks after his transplant at the Austin Hospital in Melbourne, Boyle walked out free on Wednesday.

'To say it is life changing is an understatement — it is a new life, not life changing,' Mr. Boyle said as he left, The Herald Sun reported.

'It's all a bit surreal. I have a lot of adjusting to do over the next weeks, months and years — there is a lot to take in.'

Mr. Boyle said he is planning to focus on being there for his wife and young children.

'He's not hooked to any machines, he's not hooked to any IVs and he's going to go out for dinner with his daughter and eat,' surgeon Bob Jones told AAP.

'It's extraordinarily normal and it's very moving, really.'

Professor Jones said the outlook was optimistic for Boyle after the 15-hour procedure that took a team of 12 to complete.

'The first five or six weeks are the most treacherous so we're starting to relax,' Prof Jones said.

'We're very optimistic it'll be easier from now on.'

But the surgeon is most in awe of Boyle's mental fortitude over the past 12 years.

'You have to admire his strength,' he said.

'I'm not sure I'd have the courage to go through what he's been through.'

Boyle is only the fourth person in Australia to have a small intestine transplant.

Fewer than 100 have had the small bowel and kidney transplant worldwide.

To read the origional Daily Mail article, Click Here