Mary given the gift of life by liver donor
Mary Grant was given just six months to live after being diagnosed with a rare disease.
But she was given a second chance at life after a donor liver was found just in time.
And it’s now been nine months since the 74- year- old underwent a 20- hour transplant operation at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.
Maybole lady Mary said: “I started to feel unwell about three years ago and following two years of tests at Ayr Hospital, I was finally diagnosed with Primary Biliary Cholangitis. ( PBC).”
At the time she was in her 45th year in housekeeping at Turnberry Hotel.
PBC is a chronic and progressive auto- immune liver disease that can get gradually worse over time. Without treatment, it may eventually lead to liver failure.
She added: “I was quickly referred to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and told a transplant was the only way to save my life and I was put on the donor list.
“The disease had also caused four cancerous tumours and the outlook was poor. I was actually given just six months to live.
“I quickly became very ill but thankfully, a donor was found after five months.
“It’s thanks to that person and their family that I’m still here, as well as the skills of the surgeons and nursing staff at Edinburgh. They really did give me the gift of life.”
She is nearing the end of that “vital first year” after transplant.
Mary and her husband Ian have five children and eight grandchildren between them.
In a bid to thank the medical staff and raise the profile of the charity that helps people diagnosed with PBC, Mary and husband Ian decided to take on some fundraising challenges for the causes.
Mary and her friends raised cash at a tombola stall at Kirkmichael Gala earlier in the year and in August, Ian asked guests at his 70th birthday party to make a donation to the PBC
The disease had also caused four cancerous tumours and the outlook was poor