Mum’s my perfect donor match!

SELFLESS JILL ATKINS DONATES HER KIDNEY TO SAVE DESPERATELY-ILL DAUGHTER KATIE’S LIFE

A YOUNG woman who needed a kidney transplant has been saved by her “selfless” and “incredible” mum.

Katie Lawless, 35, from Barry, had experienced kidney problems since she was a child.

But two years ago she was told by medics that their function had dropped to dangerously low levels and a transplant was needed.

So when her mother Jill Atkins was found to be a good donor match, she had no hesitation about going under the knife.

A year on from the six-hour operation at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, Katie has paid tribute to her fantastic mum who put her own health at risk.

“She’s a very kind, generous woman,” said Katie, who now feels closer to her mother than ever before.

“She’s so selfless and always has been. She always puts others before herself – and my dad is exactly the same. I look up to them both.”

Katie said she used to be quite a poorly child and would regularly vomit and have high temperatures. But she was not officially diagnosed with scarring of the kidneys until she was seven years old when severe damage had already been done.

“I was tested for a water infection and then sent for a scan which showed the scarring on my kidney,” she said.

“After I was properly diagnosed, I was monitored in hospital and given antibiotics for the long term.

“It was all okay until I had my son 17 years ago. I was very unwell six months into the pregnancy and was rushed into hospital with preeclampsia. My kidneys were failing.”

Following an emergency C-section, her son Dylan was born 10 weeks early weighing just 2lb 5oz.

“They had to carry out the C-section, otherwise doctors said both of us could have died,” she added.

Two years ago Katie said she experienced a “steep decline” in her health, with doctors recording her kidney function at just 17%.

She added: “There were lots of infections, I was very tired all the time, felt very unwell and didn’t want to socialise with friends or do anything. It just took my life from me.

“I was briefly added to the kidney transplant waiting list but then my parents were tested as potential living donors – and luckily my mum was a match.”

Katie said she initially told her mother that she was too old to be a donor in a bid to save her from the serious operation.

“I had mixed emotions when my mum was confirmed as a match,” she added.

“I experienced relief because I didn’t want to go on the national list – it can take three to five years depending on how sick you are – but I didn’t want my mum to go on the operating table.

“Even my friends offered to come forward for tests to see if they were a match. It just shows how amazing people are.”

Last year, the pair travelled to the University Hospital of Wales for the transplant to be carried out.

“I remember walking to the lift with my mum, who was on the trolley at this stage waiting to go into theatre,” Katie added.

“I tried so hard to be brave, but when the lift door closed and my mum was taken away, I remember sitting on the floor in the middle of the hospital and just crying my eyes out.”

After the healthy kidney had been taken out of Jill, it was Katie’s turn to undergo a procedure to have the organ inserted into her.

“I remember waking up at about 9pm ‘stoned’ off my face on morphine,” she added. “But, in all seriousness, everyone at the hospital was absolutely phenomenal, from the medics to the cleaners. They are all such caring people.

“It’s a horrible process to go through, but the support they gave us was fantastic.”

The transplanted kidney, which Katie has affectionately called Keith, is doing well and has made her feel more like herself again.

Katie’s mother Jill said: “My recovery from the transplant operation was quite swift and there hasn’t been any negative