In the middle of Organ Donation Week, PETER BARRON tells the moving story of how a Darlington woman gave her sister the gift of life…
IT was a question Amy Walker didn’t have to think twice about: “Are you willing to donate a kidney to save your sister’s life?”
“I’d lost my mum and dad – there was no way I was going to lose my sister too,” says Amy.
Before the operation, earlier this year, her sister Gemma’s kidney function was fluctuating between two and five per cent.
Now, the Darlington sisters are celebrating Organ Donation Week with the news that the donated kidney is performing “perfectly”, and mum-of-three Gemma is back in the gym and leading a relatively normal life.
“It’s all because of what Amy did for me – and I’d have done the same for her,” says Gemma, 37, as she plays happily with her three-year-old daughter Elena, who's a bundle of energy.
The sisters have endured more than their fair share of sadness in recent years, but they are telling their story to inspire others and hammer home the importance of organ donation.
Gemma’s health problems began when she was diagnosed with type one diabetes at 18 months old.
While her lorry driver dad, Geoff, frequently worked away from home, it was down to her mum, Christine, to help Gemma manage the condition.
But when Gemma hit her teenage years, she “rebelled” against the dietary restrictions needed to cope with the illness.
“You’re allowed sweets in moderation, but I started eating far too much chocolate and I was mad on Skittles,” she admits.
When Gemma was 21, and Amy 20, the family suffered a devastating blow , with their mum being diagnosed with a brain tumour in December 2009. She died six months later.
“It hit me really hard because she’d been the one who managed the illness, and when she died, I stopped taking insulin and started spending time in hospital,” Gemma recalls.
Gemma’s condition became progressively worse and there were further health complications when she fell pregnant with her first child, Henry, who is now 11.
Around the time Henry was born, she was placed under the care of a nephrologist, specialising in the treatment of kidney conditions.
Two years later, her second child, Finlay, was born prematurely, by caesarian section, after Gemma had been diagnosed with a carcinoid tumour on her lung.
She smiles as she proudly recalls how she made the front page of The Northern Echo, as the first person to have robotic lung surgery, in an operation carried out at James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough.
The operation was a success but, during her pregnancy with Elena, the condition of her kidney worsened significantly, to the point where the possibility of having a termination was discussed for the sake of her own health.
Gemma had started on gruelling dialysis in September 2021, but termination was never something she could contemplate, and Elena was born by emergency caesarian section on November 23.
Sixteen weeks premature, she weighed just 1lbs 6ozs, and wasn’t able to leave hospital until July the following year.
Gemma continued on dialysis – three four-hour session a week – while juggling the demands of her children, and studying for a degree in education at Teesside University.
"Looking back, I can see how hard it was, but I didn't appreciate it the time because it was just the norm," she says.
To add to those challenges, there was further heartbreak for the sisters when their dad, Geoff, died from kidney failure last year.
And with Gemma's condition continuing to deteriorate, Amy readily agreed to be tested as a potential donor.
She was found to be a perfect match but the transplant had to be delayed when Amy was found to have an over-active thyroid.
After treatment at Darlington Memorial Hospital to bring the condition back under control, she went through the tests again, and given the go-ahead for the transplant.
Amy donated her left kidney at the Freeman Hospital, in Newcastle, on March 13 and "it could not have gone better".
"The day after the operation, the nurse took me to the transplant unit to see Gemma, and she burst into tears when I walked in," recalls Amy.
Due to the need to avoid infection, Gemma had to remain in isolation for eight weeks after the transplant, and was only able to see her children through a window.
Dan, her former partner, looked after their two boys, while Elena was in the safe hands of "wonderful" foster carers, Lorraine and 'Bing' Crosby.
Today, six months after the transplant, Gemma feels "amazing".
As well as thanking her sister, she is also especially grateful to Dr Stephen Kardasz, a consultant nephrologist at James Cook University Hospital.
"He was the first to tell me I needed to go onto dialysis, even though I didn't want to, and he looked after me throughout my pregnancy. He saved my life – and Elena's too," she says.
Renal nurse, Jo Ashton, is also given special mention for her "outstanding" care throughout the transplant process.
Due to being on steroids, Gemma put on 65lbs after the surgery, but has lost half of that by going to the gym up to five times a week.
"Gemma hasn't really had a normal life up to now, but she's never complained once," acknowledges Amy.
"It means so much to see how much better she is. With Mum and Dad gone, there's just the two of us now, and we'll always be there for each other, no matter what."
With a new zest for life, Gemma's ambition is to complete her degree, then embark on a PhD, researching chronic illnesses within educational settings.
In the meantime, the sisters are proud to be advocates for organ donation.
Amy is Darlington branch manager of Newcastle Building Society, and she and seven colleagues are about to embark on a 156-mile sponsored ride on an exercise bike.
It's the distance between the society's most northerly branch, in Berwick, and the most southerly, in Pickering, with the target to raise £500 for the National Kidney Federation.
"Life's really short and we need to live it to the full because we never know what's round the corner," says Amy.
Recommended reading:
"You can live a completely normal life after donating a kidney, and the chances of a successful transplant are much higher from a living donor.
"Being a donor for my sister was just something I had to do, and having seen at first hand the difference it makes, we want to spread the word about why it's so important to think of others."
- To help Amy raise funds for the National Kidney Federation, please go to www.justgiving.com and search for 'Newcastle Building Society cycle challenge'
- To find out more about organ donation, go to: www.organdonation.nhs.uk
