- Mark Bradley had his first transplant aged 30 after both kidneys had failed
- He had been on dialysis for 4 months until his mother donated her organ
- After deteriorating for five years, the kidney began to fail last year
- He was put on the donor register and family were tested for a replacement
- His daughter, Georgia, 31, was found to be a match and gave him hers
Stephen Matthews For Mailonline
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A grateful father is recovering in hospital after his daughter donated a kidney to him, 24 years after his mother gave him one of her organs.
Mark Bradley’s kidney – given to him by his mother Evelyn in 1992 – began to fail last year, causing him to have headaches and feel sick.
The 54-year-old, from Carnforth, Lancashire, was put on the donor register and his family were tested in an attempt to find a new organ.
Eventually his daughter Georgia, 31, was found to be match and donated her kidney to help him get better.
Mark Bradley, 54, from Carnforth, Lancashire, was put on the donor register after his kidney donated to him by his mother began to fail. Eventually his daughter Georgia, 31, was found to be match and donated her kidney to help him get better (the pair pictured together)
He said: ‘I am very lucky – I have been lucky twice. It’s not often that you get one perfect match off a family member so to have two is amazing really.
‘It’s like lightning striking twice and I cannot believe how lucky I have been.
‘It’s strange to think that Georgia was a perfect match and my mum was as well.
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‘I can’t thank her enough, words cannot explain it. It’s a bit surreal how it’s come around again.
Mr Bradley had his first transplant at the age of 30 after both his kidneys failed.
He had been on dialysis for four months until his mother Evelyn, now 77, was able to donate one of her kidneys to him.
Mr Bradley had his first transplant – from his mother Evelyn – at the age of 30 after both his kidneys failed (pictured, back row: his father John, Mark and his wife Dawn, front row: Evelyn, son Lewis, then four, and daughter Georgia, then seven)
But the donated kidney started to slowly deteriorate five years ago, and last year it began to fail.
In June last year, his daughter was tested as a potential tissue match along with his son, Lewis, and wife, Dawn.
In the meantime, Mr Bradley was put on the National Donor Register just in case they didn’t match.
However, Miss Bradley was found to be a perfect match and in July the family was told that the transplant would be going ahead at the start of September.
The surgery took place at Manchester Royal Infirmary, as she underwent three hours of surgery to have her left kidney removed.
It was then transferred to Mr Bradley in a two-hour operation – leaving him with four kidneys in his body.
His mother’s donated organ sits on his right-hand side and his new kidney is placed on his left – while the original ones remain in the same position.
New kidneys are inserted into the lower part of the recipient’s abdomen to connect up the blood vessels and bladder.
The donated kidney started to slowly deteriorate five years ago, and last year it began to fail, forcing him to be put on the donor register to find a new organ (the original donation pictured on the front page of the family’s local paper 24 years ago)
Doctors choose not to remove old kidneys because it is a very complex operation and only take them out if the organ is badly damaged or diseased.
Medical advancements meant Miss Bradley was able to have her operation done via keyhole surgery and avoid stitches like her grandmother.
Mr Bradley was put in an isolation ward for the first couple of days after his operation.
While his daughter was allowed back to the family home within three days.
THE WAITING LIST FOR KIDNEY TRANSPLANTS
Ideally, a kidney transplant should be performed when tests show that the extent of damage to your kidneys is so great that you’ll need dialysis within the next six months.
However, because of the lack of available kidneys, it’s unlikely you’ll receive a kidney donation at this time, unless a family member or friend who has a similar tissue type is willing to make a living donation.
Most people with kidney failure need dialysis while they wait for a donated kidney to become available.
The average time a person spends on the waiting list for a kidney transplant is two to three years, although it can be shorter or longer than this.
Source: NHS Choices
It was only until after his operation that he had noticed how poorly he had been as he was not suffering from headaches or nausea.
Miss Bradley said: ‘I was excited but I was nervous as well. Seeing him now makes it all worthwhile.
‘It’s hard to get my head around the fact that my dad has now got a part of me inside him which is helping him.
‘It’s strange because while it’s made my dad better it will probably make me worse because my one kidney will have to work twice as hard.
‘But it’s great to see dad feeling so much better. When we first went in to hospital for tests and I saw all the other people so poorly I decided I didn’t want him to end up like that.
‘They said they would only be cutting me enough to fit the surgeon’s hand in to remove my kidney, so when I was going down to theatre the first thing I did was look at the size of the surgeon’s hands!’
Without the new kidney, Mr Bradley would have had to have dialysis again, and faced up to four years on a waiting list for another one.
He is currently having check-ups twice a week to make sure the new kidney – which should work up to 20 years – is working.
Mr Bradley is also taking anti-rejection tablets and easing his way back to fitness while his daughter hopes to return to work within the next few weeks.
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