Gift of life

LEAN on me . . . Liz Whitworth (right) is donating a kidney to Mark Holden. Liz is a lifetime friend of Mark’s wife Ruth (left)

Kidney donor’s amazing display of friendship
A KIND-HEARTED best pal is to carry out an extraordinary act - by donating a kidney to her friend’s husband.

Liz Whitworth will help to improve the life of her best friend Ruth Holden’s ailing husband Mark, who suffers from an incurable disease.

Ruth will be at the side of her lifelong friend on April 19, when Liz’s kidney will be transferred to Mark to help alleviate his genetic disorder, Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD).

Royton couple Ruth and Mark, both 45 and celebrating their 22nd wedding anniversary on Saturday, say Liz is “amazing and incredibly generous”.

But modest Liz (45), of Meadow Rise, High Crompton, said: “I just wanted to do this for them both and their family.

“We are all really close, our children are really good friends and we all go on holidays together.

“It’s a big operation and I had to think of my family, who have been supportive, and the risks.

“But there is a highly successful rate at Manchester Royal Infirmary, where the operations will take place and a live donor will supposedly give more years than a deceased donor — so I felt I needed to do it.”

Mark’s kidneys operate at about 11 per cent of healthy capacity and are filled with cysts. He has been on the kidney transplant list since November.

Mark, of Greencroft Meadow, said: “I have been able to live a normal life, but my kidneys are deteriorating at a rate of 3 to 4 per cent a year now.

“If it wasn’t for Liz’s generosity I could be on the waiting list for years and would end up on dialysis.”

Both families and close friends have been busy raising money for PKD Charity UK, which is looking for a cure for the disease.

To donate to the charity visit www.justgiving.com/RunForPKD 

To add your name to the NHS Organ Donor Register go online to www.organdonation.nhs.uk