Mum On Weight-Loss Mission To Give Son New Kidney

[okarol]

Mum On Weight-Loss Mission To Give Son New Kidney

Feb 9 2008 Exclusive by Lisa Adams

LOVING mum Margaret Carr is battling to lose weight so she can give her son a new kidney.

John, 23, survived a heart transplant when he was only five.

But his kidneys have now failed because of the drugs he has to take to stop his body rejecting his new heart.

Margaret, 50, is a perfect match to be a kidney donor for John. But doctors have told her they won't let her have the operation until she loses weight.

When she started her diet a year ago, 5ft 4in Margaret weighed 15-and-a-half stone.

But she has now lost two stone and needs to shed another stone and a half before she can give John a new lease of life.

Margaret, of Carluke, in Lanarkshire, said: "Diets have never worked for me in the past but giving my son his life back has to be the biggest incentive there is.

"I know I'm going to do it. As John's mother, it feels like my job to fix things."

John and his brother Graham, 20, have helped Margaret lose the pounds by buying her an exercise bike. She said: "It means I can cycle and watch Coronation Street at the same time."

She added: "John deserves the ordinary sort of life that any other guy in his 20s has. We nearly lost him when he was a wee boy and we're determined not to go through that again."

By losing weight, Margaret will make sure the donor kidney is as healthy as possible, as well as reducing the risks of the operation.

When she has reached her target weight, the surgery will be done at Glasgow's Western Infirmary.

John battled back bravely from his childhood heart problems. He played sport at school and got a job as a builder after he left.

But a routine blood test in 2006 revealed his kidneys were no longer working properly and he now needs dialysis three times a week.

He said: "I couldn't believe the doctors when they told me I'd need a kidney transplant.

"When I was waiting for the heart transplant, I was too young to worry about it. My parents did the worrying for me.

"But I've got a different perspective on things now. It's hard not to think, 'Why me? Not again'."

John was born with a heart with only three chambers instead of four. It was also enlarged, facing the wrong way and on the wrong side of his chest and one of his main arteries was too narrow.

He had his first operation when he was three weeks old. And after a second op when he was 18 months, Margaret and husband John senior were told a transplant was his best hope.

John got his new heart in 1990 in a four-and-a-half hour operation at Harefield Hospital in Middlesex.

At the time, he was the youngest Scot ever to have the surgery.

Margaret said: "We'll never forget the family who lost their wee boy to make it happen.

"I wrote a letter to thank them afterwards. They gave us back our son."

Kidney Research UK help give Britain's three million kidney disease patients a brighter future. Visit www.kidneyresearchuk.org for details or call free on 0800 783 2973 to make a donation.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2008/02/09/mum-on-weight-loss-mission-to-give-son-new-kidney-86908-20313154/