EDIT: We did it!  In the end we didn't quite manage to do it in one hour round as we walked with a friend who has Cystic Fibrosis and is in desperate need of a lung transplant but it was a great day and we really enjoyed ourselves!

Thanks for visiting our JustGiving page.  We know we're crazy, but it's all in a good cause!

What are we doing and why?

We're taking part in the Women's Challenge, a 5k race in Hyde Park, this coming Sunday, 6th September 2009.

On 24th June 2009, Liz donated a kidney to Jan in a 5 hour operation at St Georges Hospital in Tooting.  Jan had been in End Stage Renal Failure (ESRF) for a year and on dialysis since the beginning of 2009.  Although it is still early days (10 weeks by the time of the race), we are both making excellent recoveries with Jan's recovery nothing short of miraculous.  Don't worry though, we're not going to do ourselves any mischief by trying to sprint round and are not aiming for any time records on this occasion - though we are hoping to finish in an hour!

We last did the Women's Challenge in 2006 but due to her continued decline in kidney function Jan's not been well enough to do it since.  We wanted to take the opportunity of taking part again as we regain our fitness levels following surgery, whilst again raising money for the South West Thames Kidney Fund, based at St Helier Hospital, who are caring for us both.  The transplant team at St Helier and St Georges are fantastic and we've been so grateful to all of them for the part they've played in our journey.

The Fund supports the work of the The South West Thames Institute for Renal Research (SWTIRR) which is one of only three independent renal research institute s in the UK.  Its aims are to:

- improve understanding of the causes of kidney disease
- develop expertise in the field of renal research
- disseminate the results of its research to others working in the field
- educate the public

Organ Donation

Regardless of whether you are able to sponsor us, we would also like to encourage you to consider signing up to the UK National Organ Donor Register https://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/ukt/Consent.do?campaign=1160. Thanks to the miracle of live kidney donation and the fact we were a match, Jan's transplant was pretty straightforward to arrange once her health began to decline.  For those waiting for other organs or for whom there is no suitable live kidney donor, the situation is very different and there are currently 10,000 people in the UK needing an organ transplant which could save or dramatically improve their lives. Most are waiting for a kidney, others for a heart, lung, liver or other major organ transplant. Last year, just over 3,500 transplants were carried out but there is an urgent need for more donors. About 1,000 people in need of a transplant - on average three a day - die every year due to a lack of available organs.

The more people who pledge to donate their organs after their death by joining the NHS Organ Donor Register the more people stand to benefit. By choosing to join the NHS Organ Donor Register you could help make sure life goes on, as well as supporting us in our race.  A survey last week revealed that over half of over 55 year olds thought their organs would be no use - in fact it is only people with HIV/AIDS or vCJD whose organs can't be used at all.  In fact, organs have been successfully donated from people in their 70's and 80's whose organs are in much better condition than many on the transplant list.

The Technical Bit

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - we raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the South West Thames Kidney Fund.

So please dig deep and donate now (and sign the organ donor register too)

with our love and thanks

Jan and Liz