Kidney's 400-mile journey from Glasgow as woman bids to save cousin

“I remember seeing Mary go through the whole ordeal of finding a donor, she looked so tired, and her breathing was just shallow,” recalls Margaret, who is from Uddingston, near Glasgow.

“She told me that her husband Keith’s tests had come back as negative and while she was still waiting for some of her friends to come back, it wasn’t looking positive.

“So I decided to step up.”

Margaret, right, and Mary. (Image: Margaret McCabe)

Margaret, then 61, donated one of her kidneys to Mary, then 56, in 2019 and now the two women have written a book about the tense and emotional moments before, during and after the transplant to “offer a glimmer of hope to kidney disease patients facing the prospect of transplantation".

“We hope it might also help teach the general public about the realities of the disease and encourage people to consider organ donation,” says Margaret.

Proceeds from the book, The Miracle of Live Kidney Donation: In Flies the Leading Lady, will be donated to Kidney Research UK.

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Mary’s kidneys were deteriorating due to polycystic kidney disease (PKD) and doctors warned her that she would need a life-saving transplant, or face the rest of her life on dialysis.

After Mary’s husband and immediate friends in London were ruled out, it was Margaret, 400 miles away in Scotland, who made the lifesaving donation. Margaret is from a different branch of the family unaffected by PKD, a hereditary condition.

“I donated one of my kidneys to Mary because she needed it and I wanted to,” she says, simply.

Mary with the book she has written with Margaret (Image: Margaret McCabe)

“It was a very easy choice to make, and although my life was hectic at the time, I knew I needed to step up to the plate.

“There is nothing I regret about it and If I had a further available spare kidney I would do it again in a heartbeat.”

The cousins went through tests over 10 months to determine whether Margaret would be a match, but doctors also needed to be sure that the organ would survive the flight to London – more than 400 miles away from Margaret’s home in Viewpark.

The pair were daunted by the logistical challenge of transporting the organ, but ultimately decided to have the two operations apart to have family around them.

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Mary explains: “The hospital kept me informed of when Margaret had finished in the operating room and the organ was in transit. It was a weird feeling and I wondered where the kidney was on its journey down to London. I can remember the moment we were told that the kidney was in the building, a mix of relief, anxiety and worry took over me as I realised that this was really going to happen.”

The operation was a success. Unfortunately, says Margaret, as transplants are not a cure for kidney disease, the book is “unable to offer readers a fairy-tale ending".

She adds: “With transplants lasting between 15 to 20 years on average, it is possible that we will have to release a sequel.”

Sandra Currie, chief executive of Kidney Research UK, said: “When Mary told me of her story, and her plans to write the book I knew that it would bring both comfort and reassurance to others who are facing the turmoil in their lives that the threat of kidney failure brings.

“Kidney disease has such a profound impact on everyone it touches, and Mary and Margaret have, in a very articulate way, outlined just how much planning and preparation goes into a transplant. We are determined to make transplants last longer and are very grateful to Mary and Margaret for generously donating their proceeds to help this happen.”

The book will be unveiled at Kidney Research UK’s Purple Ball at the Radisson Blu Glasgow on February 11.