Karen shares a story of survival
IT WAS the hardest letter she ever wrote, to the anonymous family of a person she would never meet.
When Karen Gwynne received her first life-saving kidney transplant in 2000, she struggled to find the words to express her overwhelming gratitude.
“How do you thank a family for giving you the ultimate gift of life, especially when it has come at the expense of their loved one who has just passed away?” Mrs Gwynne said.
“Even though both the donor and their family had to be willing to give, how can you possibly thank them enough?”
Mrs Gwynne has shared her organ transplant survival story ahead of the Donate Life Service of Remembrance, held annually across the nation, with the Toowoomba service taking place at the Unara building, Toowoomba Hospital at 2pm, Sunday, June 11.
Mrs Gwynne was born with a kidney disorder that was diagnosed when she was nine years of age.
By the time she was 32, Mrs Gwynne – then mother to a two-year-old son – needed dialysis to survive while she waited for a kidney transplant.
This process took three years during which Mrs Gwynne underwent a laborious and restrictive treatment regime, preventing her from working and living a normal life.
She enjoyed good health until 2014, when tests revealed a series of blood clots had reduced the functionality of her donor kidney.
“Thankfully, medical technology had advanced since my first transplant and my husband Graham, who wasn’t a perfect donor match, could now successfully donate one of his kidneys to me,” she said.
The Toowoomba Donate Life Service of Remembrance is co-ordinated by Toowoomba Hospital’s clinical nurse consultant for organ and tissue donation, Liz Hill.
She said the annual service was not only a chance to reflect and be thankful, but also a chance for local organ/tissue recipients and donor families to catch up each year.
For more information about the service contact Liz Hill on 4616 5139.