Thanks for the kidney dad, you're my hero

A MORAY kidney transplant patient has been given a second shot at life thanks to her “amazing” dad whom she has hailed her hero.

Clare Mitchell underwent a transplant in December, 2009, at the age of 19, but when her body began rejecting her new kidney last year she was back on dialysis and in desperate need of a second operation.

Thankfully, she had a willing and compatible donor in the shape of her father, Dougie, whose gift of one of his own kidneys has given Clare a better chance of leading a normal and healthy life.

Recovering at home in Keith, swimming pool lifeguard Clare (23) says she is feeling “brand new”, thanks to the best possible present from the hero in her life.

She now wants to encourage people in her home town and across Moray to sign up for the organ donor register and help some of the 10,000 other people in the UK who need a transplant.

“My message is just to go for it. I really think more people should do it,” she said. “It really is life-saving and I should know.”

Clare’s mum, Frances, had a kidney swap six years before her daughter’s first transplant, and her subsequent recovery proved inspiring for Clare when she finally found a matching organ in 2009.

It initially gave the former Keith Grammar pupil a new lease of life, but when the kidney began rejecting last year, Clare turned to her dad for a life-saving contribution.

“Dad is just amazing, and there’s no better gift than this,” she said. “He’s my hero. He went through surgery to give me a kidney."

Full story in Northern Scot print version.