As most of you will know when our Dad was 22 he was diagnosed with renal failure. He was able to manage his condition with medication for 10 years before his kidney function deteriorated to the point he needed further intervention. For five years he did peritoneal dialysis every night for 8 hours. In 2010, he received a kidney transplant, and for the next few years things calmed down. However, doctors found a problem with one of the valves in his heart, and in 2015 he underwent open-heart surgery to replace the valve. Following this, his transplant failed, and he underwent surgeries on his arm and chest to create a fistula so that he could now receive haemodialysis. However, due to complications of the central line that had been put into his chest, he developed sepsis and spent 6 weeks in the hospital. A further result of this infection meant that he had to undergo major surgery to remove the transplanted kidney.

During all of this, he ran his own business, looked after our family, studied for a masters, and was President of the Highlands and Islands Kidney Patients Association. The Highlands and Islands Kidney Patients Association is a special charity, which allowed our dad to meet and support a range of people with renal failure: whether he was supporting people who were just starting dialysis or congratulating those who received a transplant. He was very passionate about the work of the charity, for it allowed him to make a change to people's lives there and then. HIKPA bridges the gap between the NHS support available and social care. Our dad has organised housing for people, bought furniture, paid towards funerals, and helped with the travel expenses associated with receiving a transplant. The charity was even able to assist with travel insurance to allow a grandfather to meet his first grandchild. All of these things gift renal patients support during the difficult stages of their diagnosis or help them to enjoy their life alongside chronic illness.

Our dad was a deeply compassionate man with great empathy for others, despite all the hardship that he endured. He was incredibly passionate about the charity and the help he could provide other people. Our family cannot think of a better way to honour his memory than to continue to support the charity. For this reason, we would be deeply grateful for any donations you may be able to provide or even to share this page to raise awareness of the charity.