Britain's youngest living donor saves Bristol dad's life with new kidney

[okarol]

Britain's youngest living donor saves Bristol dad's life with new kidney

Thursday, May 27, 2010, 09:00

MARK Trimby became a dad 23 years ago, proud of his lovely baby daughter. But now she is the one giving him the gift of life.

As he looks at his daughter Carly, the gratitude and affection Mark Trimby has for his offspring is clear to see.

He's especially proud, because at 23 Miss Trimby has become the youngest living donor in the country.

The operation was all the more special because it was the first transplant in the South West where the donor and recipient had different blood groups.

In the past it was not possible to transplant organs between people who were not a match because antibodies in the recipients' blood would fight the new organ.

But the 47-year-old father had treatments before the transplant to cleanse his blood of the antibodies so that he didn't reject his daughter's kidney.

The former manufacturing engineer, of Bradley Stoke, was diagnosed with kidney failure three years ago, having been warned the organs were not functioning fully several years before and regularly attended hospital for check-ups.

He suffered from exhaustion, a lack of sleep and loss of appetite and was put on the transplant waiting list.

His wife Michelle, 45, had offered to donate a kidney but was diagnosed with kidney stones and after treatment was not able to give the organ for a couple of weeks.

The family had heard about incompatible blood group transplants about five years ago, but at the time, the procedure was only being offered in London.

Miss Trimby, who has a three-and-a-half-year-old daughter Ruby, put herself forward as a possible donor without telling her dad.

She said: "I just wanted to make him better and I knew mum couldn't do it. I didn't tell dad straight away because I knew he would say no."

He added: "I did say no when I first found out because she is so young and has a child herself."

Miss Trimby, now 24, had to go through lots of meetings to ensure she was mentally prepared before being given the go-ahead.

Mr Trimby was attending dialysis at Southmead Hospital for more than four hours a time, three times a week for a year.

Ahead of the transplant he upped his visits to six times a week, alternating dialysis treatments with a procedure called plasma exchange, to clean his blood of antibodies.

The surgery involved a keyhole procedure for Miss Trimby, lasting four hours, followed by four days in hospital, while her father had open surgery, which took just an hour and was home after 10 days.

He has seen a gradual improvement in his health since the operation on March 5.

Mr Trimby said: "I am feeling 100 per cent better now. I have more energy, can do more and have got my appetite back.

"It is wonderful not having to come in for dialysis now.

"If this hadn't happened I would still be on the transplant list waiting for a donor.

"Carly has given me the gift of life. It is an absolutely selfless act and I will always be grateful to her."

Miss Trimby, who has now returned to her work as a catering assistant at John Lewis, said: "It's amazing that I have been able to do this."

Mrs Trimby said: "The staff at the renal unit have been second to none, they have been like a second family."

Consultant nephrologist at Southmead Hospital Dr Rommel Ravananwho was involved in the Trimby's care, said: "What has changed to make this possible is technology in terms of medication and our understanding of how antibodies are made.

"There is a special drug that helps switch off the cells of the body that makes antibodies and the plasma exchange cleans the antibodies."

He said that the procedure will not be suitable for everyone but will increase the number of patients who can receive kidneys from living donors by about 10 a year to 50 and Southmead could become the top centre in the country for live transplants.

Dr Ravanan said: "Bristol is currently in the top three in the UK for the number of living donor transplants.

"Despite that, about one in three people are waiting for a transplant and have a relative willing to be a donor but because they are not the right blood group we have to turn them down. This is a win-win procedure for everyone."

http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/news/amazing-daughter-given-new-life/article-2221009-detail/article.html

[lou]

I met Carly and became friends with her in March - she was in the bed next to me while I was having my kidney  transplant!!!!

She is such an amazing person, she said she didn't even have to think about it she just knew she wanted to donate to her dad. If only there were more people like Carly in the world!