The journey towards understanding the true meaning of being a living donor cannot really be described, a living donor becomes that chink of light, that hope, in a darkened room.
I became a donor to my beautiful mother in 2004 and I have never looked back. Perhaps, the fact that my elder sister 14 years prior had donated her kidney to our mother meant that it wasn’t anything special that I was doing, so following in my sister’s footsteps just felt natural.
Isobel Gordon was my living donor nurse specialist at Guy’s hospital, she took me under her wing and really helped me through the whole process. The care, support and help she gave me throughout is something that I will never forget as it helped to alleviate any fears and concerns that I had. I take this opportunity to say thank you to all the staff and doctors at Guy’s & St Thomas’ Hospital Foundation Trust you all deserve medals for the work you do.
It is extremely incredible how far surgeons have come in the field of live donor transplants. When I came forward as a donor I had open surgery, whereas now one has keyhole surgery which is less invasive.
Living donation is truly life changing for our loved ones. The freedom you give them from dialysis can’t be measured. If you are reading this and you have a mum like mine who needs a kidney transplant, don’t wait to be asked, offer to be her donor and transform her life!