Reality TV star Marilyse Corrigan, former contestant on Married at First Sight UK (MAFS), has been appointed as an ambassador for the Robert Dangoor Partnership for Living Kidney Donation, having donated her own kidney through the UK Living Kidney Sharing Scheme for her ex partner.
The news comes as more than 6,000 people across the country are on the waiting list for a kidney, and six people in the UK are dying every week while waiting for a transplant.
Last year Marilyse featured in a short film raising awareness of living kidney donation and is excited to have been appointed to the new role.
Marilyse said: “It’s an honour to become the first ambassador for the Robert Dangoor Partnership. I’ve seen the incredible difference that a kidney donation can make first-hand, not just to the person receiving the kidney but also their children and wider family. I can’t wait to help the partnership to raise more awareness of living kidney donation and the support they can offer anyone considering donating.”
Marilyse’s ex-partner lives with polycystic kidney disease and prior to the transplant was exhausted, relying on long dialysis sessions several times a week just to stay alive.
Marilyse could see the effect this was having on their two sons, who they share custody of: “Our kids were too young to understand what it really meant, but still had to watch him get hooked up to a dialysis machine. All they knew was that their dad couldn’t do things other dads could, like go on holidays abroad or go swimming with them, and they didn’t like it. It was heartbreaking.”
Marilyse remembers the moment that really made her consider donating a kidney. “My youngest was ten at the time and was sitting on my bed playing on his phone. I looked over his shoulder and saw that he was Googling whether he was old enough to donate a kidney to his dad. That made me so emotional. I realised, I’ve got a chance to do this for my kids’ dad.”
The Season 6 Married at First Sight star, who now works as a personal trainer, was not a perfect kidney match for her ex-partner. However, in 2021 she was able to donate to a stranger via the UK Kidney Sharing Scheme in London, which ‘swapped’ Marilyse’s kidney with another recipient-donor pair in a similar situation so that both recipients can receive a better-matching kidney.
She was well into the donation testing process when filming began for Married at First Sight and was waiting for the phone call for her kidney to be matched through the Sharing Scheme. “While I was on the show I explained to the producers that I might get a phone call while we were filming, and if I did then there was a chance I would have to leave because my priority was absolutely my kidney donation. The producers and the whole team were really understanding and were absolutely fine about it. In the end, I got the call five or six weeks after filming ended.”
Since donating a kidney, Marilyse has returned to normal life, and believes the donation has had no negative effects on her lifestyle. “I’m still very fit and healthy after my donation. 11 months after my donation, I ran the London Marathon! I ended up completing it in under four and a half hours, which I was super happy with. My life hasn’t changed one bit, but it’s changed his quality of life hugely.”
Read Marilyse’s kidney donation story in full by clicking here or visiting the Stories section of our website.
Whether you’ve already decided to donate a kidney, or you are interested in finding out more about the process and what it involves, we’re here to answer any questions you might have.
