Chris's story
Chris from Norwich took part in a donor chain and had a kidney transplant thanks to a complete stranger.
Hotel receptionist Chris received a kidney transplant from his stepfather, but it failed.
He received a second kidney from a donor he did not know after signing up to the UK Living Kidney Sharing Scheme. His mother Elizabeth was aged 50 and donated on his behalf to another patient in the scheme.
Says Chris: "I had multiple treatments for rejection. I felt very despondent that we would have to go through it all again.
"My wife was hard hit when we were told the first transplant had failed. The most debilitating symptom of the kidney failure was the exhaustion."
I felt loved that I had someone willing to donate for me to help me get the best match possible.Chris
“It was a fantastic feeling when the phone call came to say that they had found a perfect match kidney in the first run of the paired pool scheme.
"I was happy and thankful, when I was told it was from single donor out of the kindness of his or her own heart, it made me feel like there are still good people in the world. Because of how the paired scheme is run I actually know nothing of the donor.
"My wife was over the moon that I would be better and we would be able to move forward with our lives again."
Organ donation is giving the gift of life to someone. What could be better than that?Chris
