'MY KIDNEY IS FAILING BUT I STILL LIVE LIFE TO THE FULL'

'MY KIDNEY IS FAILING BUT I STILL LIVE LIFE TO THE FULL'

Date : 09.07.07
This is Aberdeen

He Was only five weeks old when his first kidney was removed. The newborn boy faced a life with one organ to do the work of two.

Just 10 years later North-east lad Darren Anderson was given the crushing news that it too was failing and he needed a transplant.

Darren's dad Derek immediately stepped forward, giving one of his kidneys to renew his cherished boy's life.

But even that was not enough.

Today brave Darren, now 18, is fighting his body's rejection of the organ that was transplanted seven years ago.

He revealed: "The doctors have confirmed I will definitely need another transplant.

"I do not know when, it could be tomorrow or in 10 years time.

"I am on medication which slows down the rate of rejection."

But the accomplished athlete smiled and said: "I have gotten used to it. I had rejection a year after the transplant and had to have medication. We have always known the kidney could fail.

"I am happy living life as it comes and doing everything I can to the max."

Darren, a pupil at Aberdeen's Robert Gordon's College, is backing National Transplant Week.

The Portlethen lad knows only too well the difference a transplant can make.

He owes his athletic prowess to it and to his own determination and positive attitude.

He took four gold and one silver medal in the World Transplant Games in Ontario, Canada in 2005 after competing in the table tennis, badminton, 100 metres, long jump and ball throw events.

He will now compete in the next world games in Thailand in August.

But before that he is heading off to Australia with his school's hockey team.

He said: "It has been tough this year so far.

"I have been in hospital and have had shingles, at that same time as studying for my highers."

A birth defect caused Darren's first kidney to fail. The valves between the organ and the bladder malfunctioned and were flushing toxic waste back into the kidney.

Derek did not hesitate to help his son.

His kidney was removed at Yorkhill Hospital for children in Glasgow and transplanted into his young son's body.

The entire complex and delicate procedure took around five painstaking hours.

His mum Nicola, a nurse, could only wait and hope that all would be well.

Darren remembered: "I wasn't afraid. I think I felt safer because my dad was there."

Derek spent a week in hospital.

Darren stayed in for five weeks, returning home the week before Christmas. His condition was monitored by staff at the Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital.

He was told last summer that the organ his dad gave was also failing.

Darren said: "I felt very privileged and thankful that my dad gave up his kidney for me.

" He is amazing.

And he added: "I would say to anyone who isn't on the donor register to look at the difference organ transplantation can make to a person.

"When they say it is 'the gift of life', it really is.

"People should open their eyes to that."

smcdonald@ajl.co.uk

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