Ruby’s Story

The day I got the call that changed my life was when I was 19 years old and in college. I was expecting a call from the hospital to confirm a date for my fistula operation which I was dreading. Instead, I was told I had a match for a kidney donation. I could not believe it! The donor was young, a perfect match, and alive. Not only that, the donor was donating to me even though they did not know me!

I had been told for a long time that I would never receive a call like this because I had too many antibodies. It wasn’t until I was being put asleep on the operating table six weeks later that I cried with happiness. I couldn’t bring myself to believe I could be that lucky.

My life since receiving my kidney has been amazing, I have done things I had never considered doing whilst on dialysis. I was never allowed to plan for the future before my transplant, always living to get through the next dialysis session.

My donor gave me a life to live for. I live every day to the fullest! In the ten years since receiving my kidney, I’ve graduated from university, travelled and explored the world, received my black belt in jiu-jitsu, participated in a pageant, bought a house and got engaged. These may be things most people do in life but for a child on dialysis, waiting for a kidney, most of these things are just hopes and dreams.

The ten years of health I have had mean the world to me. The memories I have been able to make because of my donor are priceless and I count my lucky stars every day that I get to do all of these wonderful things because of him.

I wrote to my donor a week after my surgery and started my letter with the definition of a hero, because that is what he will always be to me.