Herts woman whose life was saved by kidney donation says those getting disease on the rise
Just over one in ten people in the East of England (13%) would consider becoming a living kidney donor to someone they didn’t know
A woman from Hertfordshire whose life was saved after her husband donated one of his kidneys is telling us the number of those getting kidney disease is on the rise.
After research from two national charities shows that just over one in ten in our region would consider becoming a living kidney donor to somebody they didn't know.
"It affects 1 in 10 people"
Fiona Loud works for Kidney Care UK:
"I don't know if I'd be here today without this donation. But what I do know is that having received a Kidney donation in the Christmas of 2006 by my partner, it's allowed me to go on and have a full life. Which I maybe wouldn't have had before.
"It affects 1 in 10 people but not everyone knows about it. In many case it doesn't go anywhere but there are around 3 million with moderate to advanced stages of kidney disease in the UK.
"If you have indications of high-blood pressure, you should be asking you GP to check your kidney function. If you have diabetes your GP should be checking this function as well. But often the signs can be quite generic at first. For example, you might just feel tired".
What does stats for the East of England show?
• Almost two in three people in the East of England (62%) would consider becoming a living kidney donor to a family member, with a third (34%) saying they would consider the same for a friend.
• Just over one in ten people in the East of England (13%) would consider becoming a living kidney donor to someone they didn’t know
• 82% in the region believe they can change someone’s life even they’ve never met them.
The research comes from charities Kidney Research UK and Give a Kidney