Kidney mum’s double cause to celebrate

Leah Fox

A MUM told yesterday how Mother’s Day is always extra special after she gave life to her young daughter twice.

Natalie Wilson, 39, donated one of her kidneys to be transplanted into Holly, now nine, after being told the little girl would likely die without it.

Holly, who before the op had to be carried to the school gate because she had no energy, has gone on to win gold medals in the children’s national Transplant Games.

Natalie said: “I am proud of Holly and she each day.

“I would encourage everyone to be a donor – to see the difference it makes to someone’s life is incredible.

“I think about the transplant most days but every Mother’s Day is special because I think about how I gave my daughter life not once, but twice.”

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Natalie, a salon owner, gave birth via emergency caesarean in March 2011 after a normal pregnancy. But two days later a nurse noticed the baby’s legs were swollen.

Tests revealed Holly had the rare disorder congenital nephrotic syndrome.

Her kidneys were leaking albumin, a protein that controls fluids in the body. So for the next two years she had to have albumin infusions at Leeds Children’s Hospital three or four times a week.

Natalie, from Castleford,West Yorks, said: “We thought we’d have to prepare for the worst.”

But Holly was able to have an 18-month-long treatment break when the issues with her kidneys slowed down. Natalie and husband Chris, 48, even managed to take their daughter to Disneyland.

But she began to deteriorate again in October 2014 and had both kidneys removed two days after her fourth birthday.This meant she was on near daily dialysis in hospital while she waited for a transplant.

Natalie said: “I was heartbroken and devastated to see our baby going through this. Our world fell apart.

“Doctors told us not to Google the condition, but we did and I saw the worst. It said there was no cure, and she would need dialysis or a transplant to live.”

Tests showed both Natalie and Chris, who is a computer-design technician, were matches for a transplant. Natalie was chosen to be the donor because her kidneys were smaller.

She underwent a four-hour operation in May 2015 in St James’s Hospital, Leeds. Her kidney was rushed to Holly at Leeds General Infirmary for another four-hour op.

Natalie said: “I didn’t know how Holly was until later that night – I can only remember waking up and someone telling me David Cameron had won the election. I saw Holly two days later and she was covered in wires, tubes and monitors. But she left hospital seven days after me, and we were over the moon.”

Holly, who has a half-brother Aaron, 21, still has to take eight pills every morning. But she is bursting with energy and has won gold medals in sprinting and the long-jump.

Natalie said: “She could have had both kidneys from me – I would have done anything for my little girl.

“Every day is special now – not just Mother’s Day – because I get to see her smiling and being healthy.”