Giving our daughter life was an easy choice

Rob Tomlinson

July 19, 2004

There were no second thoughts for Norrie and Eileen Henderson when doctors told them they were both suitable donors for their daughter Gillian, who was in need of a kidney transplant.

"In fact it was the easiest decision of my life," said Mr Henderson as he thought back to the moment in 1998 when medical staff outlined the situation to the family.

"We talked about it together and we came to the decision that I would donate my kidney. She's our child, it's as simple as that and we could have waited a very long time for another donor."

Six years on - with National Transplant Week about to get under way - and Mr Henderson's big decision is reaping untold rewards for his daughter. Now aged 19, she is living life to the full and has just completed the first year of a languages degree at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh.

She is already planning things well in advance - in the autumn of 2005 she will go to Europe for a year as part of her course studying French and German and hopes to go on to work as an interpreter.

It is the kind of foreign adventure on which many young women of her age will embark - but one that would have been unimaginable for Miss Henderson before her father gave her the gift that would change her life.

Born with a condition known as Jeune's syndrome, Miss Henderson, from Pencaitland in East Lothian, has been blind since birth. Renal problems are a common side effect of the illness and she has suffered with them since she was a little girl.

She underwent regular check-ups to monitor her progress, but in January 1998 one such test revealed she had very high blood pressure - an indication that she could have suffered kidney failure.

Miss Henderson ate little and became increasingly lethargic, although she was determined not to miss out on her studies and continued to go to school. But by May of that year she was no longer able to attend. She had to have a catheter fitted into her stomach to enable her to have dialysis and was eventually provided with a portable system to receive dialysis at home.

She found it hard to sleep during the procedure and used the time on the machine to study. But that summer her condition deteriorated rapidly and it was decided she would need to have a kidney transplant.

"I don't want to use expressions like 'life or death choices'," said Mr Henderson, who is extremely self-effacing about the whole experience. "But we were told that a transplant was the only option."

With the news that both mother and father were good matches, Mr Henderson, then aged 44, put himself forward for the operation at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.

"It might sound sexist, but one of the nurses who was advising us said that women can get too emotionally involved in these situations so we decided it was better if I was the one who underwent the operation," he said.

"And then it came down to practical things about how much paid time I would get off work. In fact it was a lot harder for Eileen.

"She had a lot more stress and pressure because all she could do was wait - but we had a lot of support from our extended family and the transplant people went through it all in great detail - the pros and the cons. They were very reassuring."

After the surgery, the effect on Miss Henderson was swift and uplifting.

"You could see the change in her almost immediately," said Mr Henderson. "That was the reward in itself. She was back at school within four to six weeks. Any inconvenience you go through is nothing compared to that reward."

As for Mr Henderson himself, he has never noticed any difference in having only one kidney and feels as fit as he ever did.

"I get drunk quicker," he joked.

But the difference for Miss Henderson has been dramatic as she can look forward to an adult life full of opportunities. "I used to feel very tired before the operation," she said. "I couldn't move around but now I have a lot more energy. I don't feel restricted in any way."

Her next big challenge is her year out learning French and German in Europe - her guide dog, Star, will undergo special training to learn to look in the opposite direction when they cross the road. This is one of life's little hurdles that her father is more than happy for her to cope with alone.

"A year abroad like this just wouldn't have happened before the transplant," he said.

Growing Queue

The number of people waiting for a transplant in the UK has increased by almost a third in the past ten years.

In Scotland last year, 13 people died waiting for a liver transplant - more than 400 died last year in the UK as a whole waiting for organ transplants.

In Scotland, although the number of potential donors is rising, waiting lists are still increasing. Scotland has one million registered donors, making it the second largest UK region for registrations.

In the UK, more than 5,600 people are currently waiting for an organ transplant. In Scotland, latest available figures show around 650 people require a transplant - the vast majority of those requiring a kidney.

Surveys show that the majority of the public supports organ donation.

The average time an adult waits for an organ transplant ranges from 506 days for a kidney to 60 days for a liver.

Surgeons have been saving lives by transplantation for nearly 50 years.

The first successful transplant was of a cornea in 1905.

The first major organ transplant success involved the donation of a kidney between living twins in Boston, USA, in 1954.

The first heart transplant was performed in South Africa in 1967 by Dr Christian Barnard.

Copyright © 2004 The Scotsman.

This article posted August 7, 2004.