Highland men thankful to wives and NHS after kidney transplant saves their lives
TWO men who have received a new lease of life thanks to kidney transplants have celebrated the first anniversary of their life-changing procedures.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the first living kidney donation in the UK, carried out on October 30, 1960 at the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh.
Father-of-four Martin Ross (48), from the Black Isle, was diagnosed with acute kidney failure in 2009.
He then spent 18 months on peritoneal dialysis at home, but later developed peritonitis and doctors decided to monitor him closely, increasing the periods between dialysis to see how his kidneys would cope.
He stopped dialysis shortly afterwards, but when his condition deteriorated in 2017 wife Johan (47) stepped up and took the test to see if she would be a suitable kidney donor for him.
With his sister and cousin also taking the test it was Johan, however, who proved to be the best match and the successful transplant operation was performed in June last year.
Mr Ross said: “It’s something you never expect to have to thank your wife for doing and I don’t really know how to put it into words.
“It’s such an amazing sacrifice to make.
“When I see how completely back to normal she is and then look at myself and how well things are going it makes me hope and pray that the level of live transplants in Scotland increases so that others like me also get a second chance.”
Mrs Ross said: “It was an amazing feeling knowing I’d be able to help my husband in such a huge way.
“Of course, we were both nervous before it, as you would be for any operation, but there was a great sense of anticipation knowing improvement for him was just around the corner, all being well.”
Another life saved by the procedure was Peter Bartlett’s, a 58-year-old retired hotelier from Lochcarron in Wester Ross.
He received his transplant through the UK Living Kidney Sharing Scheme, as a result of wife Wendy (58) donating a kidney to the scheme.
While she was not a match for her husband, through the scheme they were paired with another couple facing the same need.
Mr Bartlett, whose family has a history of polycystic kidney disease (PKD), was only 23 when he found out he was also a sufferer and was monitored for years at Raigmore Hospital, before his kidney function started to decline.
He said: “The transplant has changed me completely.
“I feel great now – it’s as if I’ve got a whole new set of batteries energising me.
“I keep getting told how well I look, which has made me realise how dreadful I really must have looked before!”
He mentors others dealing with the effects of the disease as a PKD Charity UK volunteer and said: “I know just how hard the physical and mental challenges are, so I hope that talking to someone who really understands what they’re going through and has experienced everything PKD, dialysis and transplant entails first-hand really helps and makes a difference.
“So many people – including Wendy and my donor, of course, as well as all the medical and nursing staff who’ve looked after me – were responsible for me being able to have my transplant
“I’ll never be able to thank them enough for what they’ve done and feel I owe it to them to make the most of this wonderful opportunity that I’ve been given.
“I’ve been gifted a second chance at life and want to grab it with both hands.”
To find out more about living donation, visit livingdonationscotland.org.