Mark’s Story

I was given a kidney from my eldest son Aaron in December 2025. It’s been several months since the transplant at the time of writing, and I’m really happy to say we are both doing really well and are both back at work.

Around 2015 I started feeling more tired than normal. I had previously trained as a golf professional so was used to being quite active, so I knew something might be up. I was put in touch with a consultant in Preston who discovered my kidneys were working at 39-40% capacity. He couldn’t put it down to anything in particular, but suspected IgA nephropathy. He gave me a bit of advice to change my diet and lose some weight in order to help keep myself going and arranged yearly check ups to see how I was doing.

I lost 3 stone and followed a fairly strict diet which enabled me to carry on as normal for a few years. Unfortunately, due to Covid I wasn’t able to see my consultant for two years and by the next time I saw him my kidneys had dropped to 20%. I was trying to stay as fit and healthy as possible but I was just getting more and more tired. By 2023 it had dropped to 15%, and at that point something was needed.

I was told I would need either dialysis or a kidney transplant. I didn’t want dialysis as I believed it’s a pretty difficult treatment, and the time it would involve would make continuing in my job running the catering at a golf club impossible. We agreed I’d go on the transplant list, and at the same time I’d look to see if anyone I knew would donate a kidney to me.

In the end eight people came forward offering to donate. My wife and two sons were first in line. Unfortunately, my wife was considered unsuitable to donate. The boys were both insistent they would donate if they could. They’ve both been amazing right the way through. Determined young men!

We got a date for late October. We went in the night before, but on the morning of the transplant they took some final blood from my son and told us they weren’t able to move forward as they needed to do some more checks. Obviously they wanted to be as sure as they could be that it was safe for Aaron to donate, and so they wouldn’t be able to do it that day.

I took it on the chin, but Aaron thought that he’d let me down. I explained to him that he absolutely hadn’t, these things just happen sometimes. It was the right call because we needed to be 100% sure that Aaron would be OK after the operation. It was a small setback but I was sure there’d be another time soon, when everything aligned a bit better.

I asked the renal team what would happen next. They said it depended on the tests as they’d have to do more checks to make sure Aaron would be able to safely donate. Thankfully we were able to push through the extra tests in two weeks and everything came back fine again. The following week, we got a call saying the transplant could happen in December.

Once again, we went in the night before, then the next day – it actually happened! The surgeon was able to get the kidney out safely and put it in me without any bother. He said it started working for me right on the surgery table! He hadn’t seen a kidney kick off so quickly before.

I immediately felt so much better. I was told the new kidney was up working at 90% kidney function. I could actually feel the difference that it made to my body almost instantly. It made me realise just how ill I had become.

The first thing I said when I woke up was “how is my son?” He was my main worry through it all. They told me everything went fine and he was recovering well. Apparently his first words were asking about me!

Aaron was in and out of hospital in three days. They wanted to keep checking on me to make sure everything was working fine so I was in for seven days, but was otherwise fine in myself.  

Work said I was able to take a few months off but after spending Christmas with the family I realised just how much better I felt. Nothing was bothering me at all. The only concern was that my phosphate was a bit low, but the hospital kept a close eye on me and everything’s been fine so far. 

My son’s been absolutely amazing. Within three months he was back at work and has been able to get back in the gym. He’s told me he doesn’t feel any different and is absolutely loving life. We were immensely close before, but now we’re even closer still. As a boy he used to say I was his hero, but now the tables have turned. He’s my hero, without a shadow of a doubt. I idolise him. 

I have to say, the treatment and care my son and I got in the hospital was absolutely phenomenal. The night after the operation, a young nurse came in to make sure I was okay and never left my side. I can’t say thank you enough times for what they did for us.