Wally Irvine

Wally's Walking The Length Of Hadrian's Wall for The Richard Bright Renal Unit, Southmead Hospital, Bristol

Fundraising for Kidney Research UK
£2,268
raised
Donations cannot currently be made to this page
Walking The Length Of Hadrian's Wall, From East To West Coast, 85 Miles , 3 October 2013
Kidney Research UK

Verified by JustGiving

RCN 252892
We fund & deliver ground-breaking research to develop treatment and save lives.

Story

Hi Friends, Well my story started 18 months ago when my wife Nicky was told that she would have to start dialysis treatment after her previous transplant was failing.  She had however been on the UK Transplant List for 3/4 years but without success.  I immediately went to  see if I could be tested as a donor.  Unfortunately we were not only incompatible both in tissue type but also our blood group.  I was so dissappointed.  13 months down the line we were extremley fortunate to  be offered a relatively new treatment.  This would involve Nicky being stripped of her anti bodies so as not to reject my kidney. After we gratefully excepted, an operation date was arranged, so as this treatment known as being de-sensitised could begin, roughly 3/4 weeks before the operation.  Under the care of amazing Doctors the treatment began and was a great success although exhausting for Nicky.  Well it was my turn to play my part now.  On the 22nd August we were admitted to Southmead Hospital, Bristol for our respective operations.  This was extremley emotional for the both of us, especially when I was told that the surgeons were ready for me and we had to be parted.  It was fortunately made bearable as one of the lovely co-ordinators accompanied me to theatre and then with Nicky later.  My operation was a great success, with Nicky then being able to follow me down a few hours later to receive her new kidney.  We both recovered well with  me only spending 3 days in hospital before being discharged and Nicky following 3 days later. With the wonderful care that was given to us by the whole renal team it has inspired me to do this trek of Hadrian's Wall, to not only raise funds but to raise awareness of becoming a living donor.  Not only am I able to do this walk 6 weeks after donating my kidney but I am also able to return to work.  If anyone is in the fortunate position of donating kidney, all I can say is it is the best feeling I have ever had.  What could be better than giving someone the Gift Of Life.

Thankyou for reading my story.  I hope it has inspired you to donate to this wonderful cause.

 

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

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. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

Share this story

Help Wally Irvine

Sharing this page with your friends could help raise up to 3x more in donations

You can also help by sharing this link on

About the charity

Kidney Research UK

Verified by JustGiving

RCN 252892
We are the largest charity dedicated to kidney research in the UK. Kidney disease ruins and destroys lives. Treatments are gruelling, relentless. There is no cure. We say this isn't good enough. We will transform kidney health. Kidney disease ends here.

Donation summary

Total raised
£2,267.23
+ £347.50 Gift Aid
Online donations
£1,917.23
Offline donations
£350.00

* Charities pay a small fee for our service. Find out how much it is and what we do for it.