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Should a young alcoholic be denied a life-saving transplant?

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Graham Stewart | 07:40 UK time, Tuesday, 21 July 2009

Gary ReinbachA young man who began binge-drinking at 13 after being denied a life-saving liver transplant. Gary Reinbach, 22, from Dagenham, was given only a few weeks to live after developing cirrhosis of the liver.

Specialists denied him a donor organ because applicants must prove they can remain sober outside hospital for six months before the operation. Tragically for Gary, his condition was so severe that doctors were unable to discharge him — preventing him from fulfiling the criteria for the surgery he longed for.

Gary is one of the youngest people in the UK to die of advanced cirrhosis brought on by bingedrinking. His parents split up when he was 11 and just two years later he turned to booze after falling in with a bad crowd.

Do you think he should have been given a second chance instead of being left to die? And why are so many young people dying prematurely after drinking too much?

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