Daily Express - 30.07.2019

Daily Express Tuesday, July 30, 2019 35

DX1ST

rhealth

n hospital after his life-saving transplant thanks to ex-wife Kelly as delighted children Jeanie and Billie look on

Kelly on wedding day

out of our lives’ and

hildren on weekends,

good friends for such

s sharing a marriage.

our difficulties

ke it work.”

Kelly still went

tal appointments

ns.

e days a week, six

ally affected his

girls because there

ny more.

g for them to see

unwell.

arted to talk to Dan

ut he wasn’t one for

telling his family or friends how critical

things were. After a year on the deceased

donor list we hadn’t had a single phone

call. He was deteriorating badly and it

became clear to me what I had to do.

“He never asked me, I told him.”

Initial tests showed Kelly was a good

tissue match, and her kidneys and other

organs were functioning well, but their

blood didn’t match.

“We had the option of going into a

donor pool, where I’d donate to someone

and then someone would

donate to Dan in return, but

that only happens two or

three times a year so it

would have prolonged things

with no guarantee of a

perfect match.

“We were running out of

time so, after considering all

the risks and discussing

things, we decided to go

ahead with a blood

incompatible transplant.

“We were really open with our girls

about it and gave them as much

information as we could because we

didn’t want them to be scared.

“On the morning of the transplant, in

August 2018, they were with us in Guy’s.

“It was so emotional. We sat with Dan

for a while. He said to me, ‘Good luck Kel,

thank you so much’.

“Then I said goodbye to the girls and

they waved me off to theatre.

“I could see the looks on their faces

when I was going, how worried they were.

“But they were trying to smile and I

didn’t want to show I was feeling scared

myself. I had to be strong for them.”

The operation was a success and Dan

was discharged before his ex-wife, just five

days later. “He bounced out of there, you

could see the difference in him

immediately,” remembers Kelly.

With Dan taking anti-rejection and

immune system tablets, and able to return

to work, they spent a happy, healthy

Christmas as a family with their girls,

now aged 16 and 11, and enjoyed a

holiday in France.

“Everyone says to us,

‘Surely you’ll get back

together now?’ but it’s

brought us closer in a

different way,” she insists.

“In Guy’s they said they’d

never had an ex donate

before, but everyone’s

relationship is different.

“When we split up we

were able to save the best

parts of our relationship, our friendship,

and rebuild what we have from that.

“To me, I was giving a kidney to the

father of my children and the best friend

I’ve had since I was 11. We might not be

married any more, but we’re still very

much a family and I had to make that

sacrifice to keep our family together.”

As for Dan, there’s no denying that his

ex-wife’s extraordinary gesture saved his

life. “Kelly’s amazing gesture to give me

one of her kidneys is truly a selfless act.

“To put your own life on the line to help

someone else is quite simply amazing.

“Kelly will always be my hero.”

D YOU GIVE

X A KIDNEY?

‘We might not

be married,

but we’re still

very much

a family’

KKellyllyononweweddiddingngddaydday

w

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