McDonald’s return is full of joy after kidney transplant
When kevin McDonald left Fulham under the cover of lockdown in the summer of 2020, there were more urgent priorities than worrying about whether he would ever play professional football again.
his kidneys were failing and he was in urgent need of a transplant, which came 10 months later thanks to a donation from his brother Fraser.
On saturday, playing for exeter in league One, McDonald scored his first goal for five years. It is a genuinely heart-warming tale of recovery and resilience and provoked a blur of emotions for the 34-year-old midfielder, little more than a week after the birth of his second daughter.
‘It was always my aim to get back playing,’ he tells Sportsmail, but it has been a complicated process from the very outset, from the moment his body rejected the kidney and for 10 days doctors fought to make it function.
‘When you’re lying in that hospital bed and they’re taking you to surgery and putting the needles in to put you to sleep there are all sorts of things going through your head. Thankfully, I was in great hands, with so much support from friends and family. I’ll never find the words to describe the love I feel for my brother. There are no words.’
McDonald was diagnosed with kidney disease during routine medical checks when he moved from Dundee to Burnley at 18. he managed the illness through a successful career, but by the time of his transplant, one kidney had stopped working and the other was down to 10 per cent.
A heavy course of medication helped to get the new kidney working and he came out of hospital and into isolation with covid still rife and that was before he started to get himself fitter and looked for a club.
‘I lost more than 10kg (1st 8lb) and was totally stripped of muscle,’ says McDonald. ‘I stood up, went for a 10-metre walk and I was breathing out of my backside. That was a blow, but, step by step, I got going. Back on to the exercise bike, my first run. slowly, I built up my fitness.
‘I went back to train at Fulham who were brilliant but preseason there was horrific, working with the Under 23s. I’d been coaching some of these players in the year before I left and now they were seeing me like this, blowing. There were lots of those little hurdles, physical and mental.’
clubs he thought might be interested told him they weren’t keen on the risk until he signed a short- term deal at Dundee United last season, and he made a few appearances towards the end of last season. he started this season training at Derby, and there was interest from huddersfield and Bradford before an injury setback.
‘It’s been frustrating because physically I was good to go,’ says McDonald, who signed a shortterm contract at exeter in January. ‘It’s a really good little club with potential to go where they want to go. It’s been perfect for me.’