James Kirby outs best foot forward after life-saving kidney surgery
A DETERMINED teenager completed a charity run just eight weeks after undergoing a second life-saving kidney transplant.
James Kirby, a 16-year-old Cavendish student from Victoria Drive, is making good progress after undergoing the major surgery at the Evelina hospital in London on June 26, shortly after his GCSE exams.
He took to the streets of Bath, on August 21, for the 3K Organ Donor Run accompanied by his medical team and dad, Rupert.
They raised more than 1,300 for the Children's Transplant Fund at the Evelina Children's Hospital, in London.
James suffered kidney failure at birth and spent his childhood in and out of hospital.
As a youngster, he was unable to take part in PE at school, and was fed through a tube until he received a kidney from his mum, Lisa, in 2001.
Following the transplant, he went on to become a sporting star and scooped four medals at the British Transplant Games.
However, his new kidney began to fail three years ago, leaving him increasingly tired and unwell.
James had been on the organ transplant waiting list for three months when the Kirby family received a phone call from the hospital.
"It happened out of the blue," said Rupert. "We had phoned the hospital that day and asked if we should be booking a holiday abroad while James was on the waiting list. They said, 'Yes it could be years', so we booked the holiday.
"At about 1am, a consultant phoned and said we had to be in London on June 26.
"There was a little bit of panic and quite a lot of excitement but there is still a lot of testing before you know whether the transplant will go ahead," he said.
James and his dad decided do the 3K Organ Donor Run to celebrate the gift of life James has received and to raise awareness of the Organ Donor Register. James, who recently achieved 13 GCSEs at grade A* to C, told the Gazette, "I wanted to get people to recognise the donor list and get registered.
"It was a way of fundraising money for the hospital, so it was a way to thank them and the donor family.
"I wouldn't have been able to do it if the donor who gave me the transplant didn't put his name on the donor list.
"I feel quite proud that I did the run. You get a lot of people doing it with you and I had my dad doing it, so I couldn't let him do it by himself."
To find out more about the donor register visit www.organdonation.nhs.uk/ukt/
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Monday 13 February 2012
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