Milestone for Matisse Reid | Hawkes Bay News | Local News in Hawkes Bay

The intravenous tube that has been feeding Matisse Reid since she was born was removed by doctors on Friday.

The milestone decision by doctors at the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh was announced without warning.

Her mother Jodee Reid wrote online: "Ten years, 365 days a year, of being hooked up and poof - it is gone."

She said Matisse was eating "a little more" and would continue to need IV fluid for 12 hours a night. Matisse's supporters left congratulatory messages on Ms Reid's blog following the news, and those sentiments were shared by her grandmother Kathie Hands in Napier. "It's absolutely brilliant, [the news was] so unexpected for us," she said.

The 10-year-old's condition was continuing to improve after undergoing a double organ transplant nearly six weeks ago.

Matisse endured a host of problems following the transplant. She was still on pain medication and had a severely suppressed immune system, but the improvements saw her mother planning ahead to when Matisse could finally return to the Napier family's Pittsburgh home.