A fiancee is giving a kidney to a stranger so her sick partner can receive a life-saving transplant from another donor in return.
Devoted Vicki Robertson is not a 100% match to partner Kevin Taylor and cannot help him directly.
So the pair joined the groundbreaking UK Living Kidney Sharing Scheme, which enables people to be “pooled” to find a successful match.
Vicki, 36, said: “I was disappointed that I couldn’t give my kidney directly to Kevin.
"But I’ll be helping someone else and by doing that, Kevin also gets the chance of a life with some kind of normality.
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“Having one kidney will help me understand how he feels.
"He’ll finally have a chance of a better life.
"We don’t know who will get my kidney, or who will be giving a kidney to Kevin.”
Kevin, 41, has suffered from chronic kidney failure since he was diagnosed at 15 with rare blood disorder Wegener’s Granulomatosis.
His kidney function is at just 8%. and he has to rely on dialysis three times a day, seven days a week.
The former assistant golf professional said: “I’ll be gaining a kidney, but Vicki will be losing one, so it is a massive thing for her.
"Donors can lead a normal life after the recovery phase and transform the life of someone in need.”
Even though Vicki was not a 100% match, she was initially going to donate her kidney to Kevin in April last year, but surgery was cancelled due to Covid.
The couple were asked to rejoin the sharing scheme after lockdown.
They will plan their wedding if the transplant works.
Vicki and Kevin, from Darlington, Co Durham, support the Mirror’s Change the Law for Life Campaign, which introduced the opt-out organ donor law last year.
Their operations will be at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital, where our campaigner Max Johnson, 13, received his new heart from Keira Ball, nine, who died in a car crash.
The law is named after them.
- For advice visit organdonation.nhs.uk or call 0300 303 2094.
