Father flies to Philippines to buy £400,000 kidney after waiting 4 years for NHS transplantLast updated at 00:08am on 4th December 2007
Mark Schofield has waited for more than four years for the kidney transplant which would save his life and let him see his children grow up.
But, after finally losing patience, he flew to the Philippines with £40,000 in savings ready to buy a new organ from a living donor.
The 43-year-old hopes to find a poverty-stricken Filipino desperate enough to sell him a kidney.
His hopes are high, boosted by the knowledge that part of the capital Manila is known as "One Kidney Island" - because so many people there have sold their organs.
"I'm not prepared to lie down and play dead," said Mr Schofield, a former surfing champion who runs a surfwear firm.
"I've got to take a gamble. I can't just sit here and do nothing.
"I could last ten years, two years or another two weeks. But I know that I'm going to get worse at some point.
"I know the moral argument about buying and selling organs but I also know I have two young children whom I want to see grow up."
Mr Schofield, from Porthcawl, South Wales, said he had no choice about becoming a "transplant tourist" after being let down by the UK donor service.
There are 6,500 people on the waiting list for a kidney but only 1,800 transplants were carried out last year.
According to the British Medical Association, one patient dies every day waiting for a kidney.
The greatest fear of Mr Schofield and his wife Jayne is that he will not live long enough to see their children George, 16, and Jessica, 13, grow up.
He spends hours every day linked up to a dialysis machine at his home after being struck down by kidney disease 20 years ago while a professional surfer who had won the European title.
His mother Jean donated one of her kidneys but now he needs another transplant.
However, because he has a rare blood type, the donor service in Britain has so far failed to find a match.
"If I could buy a kidney in this country, I would," said Mr Schofield.
"But it is illegal so I've got to go somewhere else.
"To those who criticise me on moral grounds I would say, 'Swap with me and see how you feel'."
His wife, a nurse, added: "Morally, I think it's wrong to pay but if you put yourself in Mark's shoes, there is no other option."
The couple investigated buying a kidney from abroad on the internet.
Mr Schofield was offered one in China, believed to be from a convict, but rejected it.
Instead, he flew nearly 7,000 miles to the Philippines where he found a surgeon in Manila confident of finding the right donor.
When that happens, he says he will return for surgery.
Mr Schofield remains on the waiting list in the UK but believes his best chance of a transplant is in the Philippines.
Dr Richard Moore, clinical director of nephrology and transplant at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, said: "I am aware of a handful of patients who have gone to South-East Asia and come back with good results.
"I am equally aware of a couple who have taken the same route and have not returned."
To encourage more organ donors, ministers are examining a switch to "presumed consent" where Britons would have to opt out of becoming a donor.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=499447&in_page_id=1770Scroll down for more...
Mark Schofield
PHOTO: 'Transplant tourist': Mark Schofield spends hours every day linked up to a dialysis machine at his home, he has been waiting for a transplant in Britain for more than four years
I Hate Dialysis Message Board
Author
