Manchester's kind-hearted kidney donors
Altruistic kidney donations to complete strangers have peaked in Manchester.
Out of the goodness of their hearts, around 50 people in Manchester have donated one of their kidneys to save a stranger's life in the last 10 years, according to new figures.
Giving a kidney to someone unknown to the donor now makes up 8% of all living kidney donations, with other live donations coming from family and close friends.
The Manchester Renal Transplant Unit performs more transplants than any other hospital in the UK.
The majority of kidney donations are still generated from deceased people and despite the figures hundreds of patients still remain on the transplant list waiting for a new kidney or a combined kidney and pancreas transplant.
David Van Dellen, from the from the Manchester Royal Infirmary, said: Altruistic donations are a very interesting phenomenon that's evolved over the past 10 years. "It provides an opportunity for people, out of the goodness of their heart to give kidneys to a complete stranger.
"When up to three people a day die on the transplant waiting list, altruistic donors provide an extra pool of organs. It must be the traditional northern spirit of friendliness!"
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