DOCTOR GIVES UP KIDNEY TO INSPIRE MORE DONORS
Last updated at 12:39, Saturday, 17 March 2012
A DOCTOR who gave away one of his kidneys to a stranger is taking on two challenges in a bid to inspire other people to be live organ donors.
Dr Tony Akbar, 52, is in training for the London Marathon and Keswick to Barrow walk, just 18 months after undergoing an operation to remove his kidney.
Dr Akbar, who works for the Cumbria Health on Call clinic in Furness General Hospital, was moved to pledge to donate after witnessing first-hand the plight of dialysis patients in the area, in the hope it would encourage others to do so.
After deciding to commit to live organ donation, the father-of-three had to undergo a year-long cycle which included medical and psychological tests in Manchester and Preston before he was given the go-ahead.
He said: “I know that patients go through so much trouble, especially people on dialysis. It is not only stressful but painful.
“The average wait is three or four years for one patient. It not only affects them but their relatives as well.
“At first my family asked ‘why are you doing this?’, but once they got over it, they were very supportive. I wasn’t scared. I think because I am a doctor and I have been a surgeon that was the reason.
“Being a physician, I felt I should be a role model. I wanted to promote it to other people as well.”
He finally went under the knife at Manchester Royal Infirmary in July 2010. Dr Akbar spent five days on a ward full of patients undergoing transplants, mostly receiving kidneys, as he recovered.
The NHS has strict confidentiality rules which means only recipients can choose to write to donors to thank them. Otherwise, the process is anonymous, unless it involves those choosing to give to relatives or friends.
But spending time with the patients on the ward was enough to show him how his own selfless act would dramatically improve another person’s health and quality of life.
Dr Akbar, of Great Urswick, said: “They were amazing people. I came to know about the other side of it. I heard all the stories of how they went through dialysis. They were all so positive. It was absolutely worth it.” Medics in Manchester advised Dr Akbar to take six weeks off work following the operation. He had to use annual leave to do so and is keen to lobby for the NHS to give live organ donors time off in a bid to get more people to do it.
He made a full recovery in time to complete the Keswick to Barrow walk last year, and there has been little to no change in his body since giving the kidney away.
In a bid to inspire others to become donors, Dr Akbar will take part in the London Marathon in April and the Keswick to Barrow again the following month, dedicating the feat to the memory of his mother Meena and Patrick O’Callaghan, who he befriended on the ward in Manchester.
Dr Akbar said: “After the operation the kidney left behind enlarges. Obviously you become more careful about your health and you drink a little less liquid, but that’s it.
“I am doing this to prove to people that everything is OK. I donated a kidney and I can still do this.”
l To sponsor Dr Akbar, visit his fundraising page online at uk.virginmoneygiving.com/TonyAkbar
First published at 10:37, Saturday, 17 March 2012
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