Man given kidney by mother 24 years ago gets another... from his daughter
WE all hope to be able to rely on our families when misfortune strikes.
And Mark Bradley, 54, has even more reason than most to be grateful to his after not just one but two close relatives gave him one of their kidneys.
First was his mother Evelyn more than two decades ago when both his own organs failed when he was just 30.
That precious gift enabled him to lead an active life and avoid decades on dialysis but then it started to stop functioning.
So step forward daughter Georgia, 31, to follow her grandmother’s example. She donated a kidney in a transplant after discovering she was a perfect match.
Now Mr Bradley has four kidneys as surgeons said it was safer to leave the others – his own pair plus his mother’s – in place.
Both he and his daughter are home and doing well after the surgery this month.
‘Cannot believe how lucky I have been’
Yesterday, Mr Bradley, of Carnforth, Lancashire, said: ‘It’s not often that you get one perfect match off a family member so to have two is amazing really.
‘It’s like lightning striking twice and I cannot believe how lucky I have been.’
The extraordinary bond stretching over three generations began 24 years ago.
After both his kidneys failed, the water company worker relied on dialysis for four months until his mother Evelyn, then 53, underwent the transplant.
At the time, this was a major operation in which she needed 48 stitches. In contrast, his daughter was able to have keyhole surgery.
The first operation was a success and the organ lasted twice as long as doctors expected. It finally started to deteriorate five years ago, leaving Mr Bradley facing going back onto dialysis last April. He was put on the National Donor Register as his daughter, son Lewis and wife Dawn were tested as potential donors.
After Miss Bradley was found to be a perfect match, the transplant went ahead on September 2 at Manchester Royal Infirmary. Her left kidney was removed in surgery lasting three hours and then given to her father in a two-hour operation.
Miss Bradley said: ‘I was excited but nervous as well. I was only seven the first time around so I don’t remember much except going to the hospital to see him.
‘I signed up a few years ago to be an organ donor but I didn’t think I would be a live donor! I never thought I would be donating to my dad. It was very emotional and it’s hard to get my head around the fact that my dad has now got a part of me inside him which is helping him.’
Mr Bradley added: ‘I could tell within two or three days that I was much better. I had no headaches or feeling sick and could eat what I wanted. I feel absolutely brilliant.’
His mother, now 77, said: ‘It’s just so wonderful that Georgia has given Mark a new lease of life and makes it even that more special that it has stayed in the family. But the main thing is that he is safe and well.’
There are around 1,100 living kidney transplants a year in Britain. Doctors say longterm health risks for the donor from having one kidney are low if the surgery goes well.