As a child, I remember seeing stories about how you can donate blood, or even some organs, to help people in need. It felt like such a simple way to help people who needed it. As soon as I could, I started donating blood. I also signed up to the organ donation scheme and carried the cards as well in my wallet. Why not? It felt like the right thing to do.
I got to a stage in my life where everything was going well for me. It felt like I could donate a kidney without disrupting anything. I was in my fifties, and my children had left home and didn’t have any major health concerns. I didn’t know anyone with kidney disease, but decided to bide my time and see if any opportunity for altruism presented itself. A couple of years later, that is precisely what happened.
I’m a very keen fisherman and follow a lot of other people with similar interests on social media. One person who I had met a couple of times, Bob, wrote on Facebook that his kidney function was slowly decreasing, and he’d soon need to go onto a dialysis machine three times a week. It felt like the right time for me, so I sent him a message to say I’d be interested in seeing if I could donate to him.
He has since told me that the initial message and subsequent phone call we had that night was one of the most joyous, yet surreal conversations he’s ever had in his life.
The process took quite a long time for us because of the pandemic. It was a revelation to discover whilst going through this whole process that the actual recipients are not the most important consideration when doing a donation. The donors are, and it’s their health that is taken as the highest priority, as no detrimental risks to their health can be taken. This was quite a shock to me, and it’s why I was under so much physical and mental observation during the process. It couldn’t have been more thorough.
After finally getting all the necessary tests done, it turned out that I was healthy enough to be able to donate, however my kidney wasn’t a good match for Bob. However, the doctors told us about the UK Living Kidney Sharing Scheme, where I could donate my kidney to someone who was a direct match, and in return someone better suited to Bob would give him theirs. I didn’t hesitate and said yes straight away.
Some more health checks and tests were done to try to find a fitting match – both a matching recipient for me and a matching kidney for Bob. Finally, we got the long-awaited news in April 2023 that a matching pair had been found!
A date for the operation was set, giving me a bit of time to lose a bit of weight, get fit for the operation, and get everything in order so I would have time to recover. It was actually Bob who pointed out that I would be losing nearly one kilogram by having one of my kidneys removed, something I hadn’t factored in whatsoever! I still find this highly amusing to this day.
