« Back to 2000 News Archive

Xmas Comes Early...

A BRAVE STRANRAER woman gave her husband an early Christmas present this year — one of her kidneys.

Allison Farmer (38) had watched Douglas (50) endure over four years of nightly dialysis machine cleansing and did not hesitate to apply for a live donor kidney transplant when she found out about the operation through medical magazines.

Douglas had suffered from polycystic kidney disease for ten years, where grape-like cysts slowly drain the life out of the organ. He faced a gruelling eight hours on dialysis every night, but still managed to keep working as a joiner at Dalrymple Hospital through the years. He said:

"I feel fantastic now. It really is unbelievable. All my ailments are gone and I feel like I have been given a new lease of life."

After defying the odds by being a good genetic match for the operation, the couple’s surgery took place at the Royal Infirmary in Glasgow three weeks ago on 25th October and both are now making remarkable recoveries.