With six people in the UK dying every week whilst waiting for a kidney transplant, a woman from North London is speaking up about how she donated one of her kidneys to her husband’s nephew, with the aim of inspiring more people to consider if they too could donate a kidney for someone in need.
Julie Gallagher, 50, initially went to hospital to support her husband Michael, who was being tested to see if his kidney was a match for his 14-year-old nephew Rory. Looking back, she said “I nonchalantly said that I would get tested too, to show him how easy the process would be. At that point I didn’t even know that a non-blood relative could even be a match for someone.”
Rory had been born with kidney problems, and the family always knew he would need someone to donate a kidney later in his life. In the end, Julie’s husband didn’t progress further because Julie turned out to be “an incredible match”.
Despite ongoing work to encourage people to consider donating a kidney as Julie did, around six people die every week whilst waiting for a transplant. Julie hopes that her donation to someone who isn’t a blood relative will inspire others to consider if they would do the same for someone in need.
Before the donation, Julie and her family watched Rory’s health deteriorate. “He was losing weight, he never had any energy, and his kidneys were working at just 8% of what they should have been.” After giving him one of her kidneys, however, Julie says: “He’s thriving. It’s been such a change to his life. My motivation was to allow him his teenage years, doing things a teenager wants to do, without having to rely on a dialysis machine to keep him alive.”
She is sharing her story in support of the Robert Dangoor Partnership for Living Kidney Donation which aims to raise awareness of what it means to be a living donor and offers support for people considering donating. A poll carried out by the campaign revealed 55% of UK adults would consider donating a kidney to a family member, while over one in seven (13%) would even consider donating a kidney to a stranger. If these people were to come forward to donate, they would not only save lives but also save the NHS money compared to keeping patients on expensive and life-limiting dialysis treatment, as shown in a report1 released by Kidney Research UK in 2023.
Jan Shorrock, a spokesperson for the Robert Dangoor Partnership who also donated a kidney herself in 2013, said: “There are more than 6,000 people in the UK who are currently on the waiting list for a transplant. Kidney donations from people like Julie offer the opportunity to transform a person’s life through their gift. If her story inspires even a few people to consider donating themselves, then it could make a huge difference to people living with kidney disease who are waiting for that life-changing phone call to say someone is willing to donate to them.”
Three years on from her donation, Julie says she has absolutely no regrets.
“I’ve had no post-surgery problems or ill effects since donating. Hearing my sister-in-law at the other end of the phone weeping with joy, relief and gratitude made it all worthwhile.”
