Living Donors Online Message Board
Living Donation Discussion and News => Living Donation in the News => Topic started by: Clark on December 20, 2013, 12:54:32 PM
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http://www.clactonandfrintongazette.co.uk/uk_national_news/10891606.Boy_meets_altruistic_kidney_donor/?ref=nt
A 12-year-old boy who received a kidney from a stranger has met the man who transformed his life.
Tom Higgs is the first person at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London to receive a kidney from an altruistic living donor.
Most living donors are family members but, on occasion, strangers will offer up their kidneys to help save other people's lives.
Tom met his donor, Roger Sutton, a 53-year-old GP from Portsmouth, after the pair exchanged letters through their transplant co-ordinators.
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Mr Sutton underwent the operation at Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth during a planned sabbatical from his GP work.
He said: "I can't pinpoint the exact moment when the idea to donate a kidney first came to me. I suppose what started out as a thought grew into a quiet conviction that it was the right thing to do - a chance to say thank you for all the great things that have happened in my life.
"Looking back, I can see there's been a bit of a 'renal thread' running through my life.
"My grandmother lived for 35 years after having one of her kidneys removed. I watched a kidney transplant operation when I was a medical student. Twenty years ago a friend of mine had a transplant after developing renal failure.
"My wife Debbie, who is a dietician, was for many years part of a renal dietetics team. As a GP, I have seen just how important organ donation is and how many lives have been saved through transplants."
Mr Sutton underwent a rigorous assessment before the operation, both mentally and physically. He was also tested to ensure his remaining kidney would function well.
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