大象传媒

Gill and Claire have been friends for over thirty years. All that time Claire has been a kidney patient after an infection in her childhood damaged her kidneys. Over the years she has received three kidney transplants that have failed for various reasons. Since January 2015 she has been on dialysis at home four times a week. The friends had fallen out of touch for a while so they decided to meet up ahead of Gill's 50th birthday. Shocked by how ill Claire looked and after hearing about the donor pairing scheme, where donated organs are 'pooled' across the country and matched to recipients.One day she asked to meet up with Claire and offered her one of her kidneys. Claire says she was shocked. As Gill says "I am a fit and healthy person -I don鈥檛 need two. She was taken aback but knows I鈥檓 determined". The testing started a couple of years ago and discovered they weren't a match at all. They were entered into the computer for the paired system (it is only done four times a year and people often have to be entered several times before finding a match). They were matched the first time into a three way scheme - with 3 donors and three receivers, which is all done anonymously. When this conversation was recorded, they had around six weeks to go until the operation. The operation was a success, and in spite of some complications Claire is recovering at home while Gill is back walking her dog and driving.