Page 16 - More than a match

More Than a Match

These risks sound quite daunting and I don’t want to make light of
them, but if we pause for a moment, we will realise our life is full

of risks, no matter what choices we make. We can’t control the bad
drivers on the road or the pilots who fly our planes, and these days,
you don’t have to be in the wrong place at the wrong time to be at
risk of being harmed or killed. I know people who take all kinds of
risks. I have a friend who chain-smokes—they know it’s a big risk
to their health but they still continue—and another friend of mine
climbed Kilimanjaro to raise money for charity, which, to me, is a
bigger risk than donating a kidney!
With my mind made up, my brother now had the difficult task of

telling our mum about his kidney failure. This was a tough one, as
she was grieving over the loss of our dad. She broke down when
she heard, and I knew telling her about the donation was going
to be even more difficult. When I did, she was worried that both
of us would undergo major surgery as the same time. When I told
my children, they were more agreeable to the idea. We discussed
the donor assessment process as a family and agreed it was the

best chance we had of giving Tayo a better quality of life. The day
ended on a high, with my brother overwhelmed at my decision to
donate one of my kidneys to him; there were no words adequate to
match the moment. He came that day for a family meeting and left
with the possibility of a healthier and fuller life. The donor process
started us on a journey we never could have imagined.

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