Chiswick DI urges donors to give the gift of life

Transplant patient Kim Tuffin tells his story of survival thanks to a donor

Chiswick's Detective Inspector Kim Tuffin was given the gift of life in the form a kidney transplant a few years ago.  Now during UK Transplant Week, he is trying to recruit as many new donors as he can in order to provide the same life saving opportunity for others.

Kim tells the story of his survival thanks to his donor in his own words "I fell ill with a sever headache in 2001 and was diagnosed with high blood pressure due to the beginnings of kidney failure.

This came completely out of the blue as I was very fit and drunk and ate sensibly. I was referred to a specialist at Hammersmith Hospital and received treatment to keep my blood pressure under control but they could not control the deterioration of my kidney's.

In 2001 my condition got so bad I needed Dialysis, which involved three five hour sessions a week linked to a Dialysis machine and very strict diet.

In 2002 after her going through a multitude of tests I received a new kidney from my step mother who luckily enough was a good tissue match.  This was like a second chance of life I felt like a new man I could go back to work and lead a normal life.

I take a variety of tablets to stop the kidney from being rejected and try and keep myself healthy and not a day goes by when I don't think of my stepmother and the sacrifice she made for me.  The gift of organ donation is really the most precious gift that anybody can give, last year over 400 men women and children died waiting for an organ transplant these were all needless deaths and could have been avoided.

I would ask everybody to think about donating their organs after their death and if they would like to to Register on the Organ Donor register discuss their wishes with their family and if possible carry a Donor Card. Because of the importance of a good tissue match to stop rejection there is a extra special need for donors from minority groups. Organ donor ship is supported by all of the major faiths. At present the waiting time for a new kidney is approx five years.

The decision to donate the organs of a loved one after their death is a brave and difficult one but I have met nobody who having made the decision to donate came to regret it later.
My step mother is very well and is leading a very full life on her one kidney."

48 year old Kim is a Detective Inspector based at Chiswick Police station. He got in touch with ChiswickW4.com to help him raise the profile locally of this life saving organisation.

July 25, 2006