Transplant mum marks op milestone with call for more donors

A North Staffordshire mum is celebrating the 10th anniversary of her life-saving transplant surgery with a call for more donors to come forward.

Janet Matthews, 62, of Bradwell, Newcastle-under-Lyme, received the gift of a kidney from live donor daughter Jenny Lowe in a life-changing operation on June 14th, 2016.

Now, as organ donation levels across the UK fall, mum–of-two Janet, a buyer at the JCB World Parts Centre in Uttoxeter, is urging families to make organ donation a must-have conversation in the hope of increasing the number of donors.

Statistics for organ donation showed a 2% drop in transplants last year and consent rates for people agreeing to loved ones’ organ donations when they die stand at just 59%. In the UK there are 6,900 people waiting for kidney transplants with an average waiting time of three years.

Janet’s kidneys failed owing to the hereditary Polycystic Kidney Disease and as her health deteriorated daughter Jenny, now 40, of Sandyford, Stoke-on-Trent,  stepped up to be the live donor when DNA tests showed her to be a near perfect match.

Lifelong football fan and Stoke City season ticket holder Janet said: “My parents both died in their forties so I’m not sure who I inherited the condition from. My son Andrew also has it but Jenny was clear. I didn’t know how to feel when I found out she wanted to be my donor. At first I was adamant that I didn’t want her to do it. She is a mum and at the time her daughter Maisie was only four-years-old, and there are always risks involved.

“What she did was so selfless, and the truth is she has given me a new life. I have got to see my granddaughter grow up and my husband Stephen and I have a great life. Before the transplant I was quite poorly and just exhausted all the time. I could have been waiting years for a transplant and I was dreading going on dialysis. After the transplant I was out of hospital in two and a half weeks. I am on anti-rejection drugs for life but it’s a small price to pay and is just part of my routine.

“I have check-ups every four months and Jenny has a health check every 12 months too. It is also reassuring for me to know that if she ever has kidney problems she goes straight to the top of the list because of what she’s done for me.

“Live donors count for 40 per cent of all kidney donations, and I was lucky, but so many people need organ donations and I really want people to have that conversation and make sure their loved one’s wishes are fulfilled if they want to be an organ donor. It is so important and so life-changing.”

Since the transplant at Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Janet is living her new life to the full. Just two years after the operation Janet and Jenny decided to enter the Potters ‘Arf marathon to raise funds for the Royal Stoke Hospital where both are now cared for. Janet walked the notoriously gruelling course while Jenny ran it.

Janet added: “Also since the transplant, whenever Jenny wants any favours she does just mention that she gave me her kidney, so I can never refuse her anything.”

In recent years, Janet has also taken steps to improve her health by swimming, going to the gym and losing almost five stones in weight.

Travel is the big passion for Janet and her engineer husband Stephen, 63, and they make the most of every opportunity. “I’ve been body boarding in Cornwall, and we’ve just come back from Menorca where I went down water slides with my grand-daughter Maisie – which is not bad for a 62-year-old.”

The summer will see them taking 14-year-old Maisie to Newquay in their caravan, then a Caribbean cruise is on the cards for November with a holiday to Jamaica planned next year to celebrate the couple’s 45th wedding anniversary. Other caravan holidays will also be planned around Stoke City home fixtures.

Adds Janet: “I have been very lucky, my journey has been quite smooth and it has been life-changing. I want to share my story because I want to show people what a difference they can make, whether you are thinking about being a live donor or when a loved one dies. Everyone should have the conversation it is so important.”