Soap stars sign up to donor campaign
Reporter: Lewis Jones
Date published: 03 February 2012
A LOVING wife who donated a kidney to her critically-ill husband is backing a campaign to boost the number of donors.
Shahnaz Ahmed (50) went under the knife to save the life of her husband Alias (53), who was dependent on dialysis having battled through kidney problems for more than five years.
The brave mum is now joining forces with Oldham-born celebs Shobna Gulati, from “Coronation Street” and former “Hollyoaks” star Ricky Whittle to urge more black and Asian people to sign up to the NHS Organ Donor Register.
Shahnaz said: “It was very hard to see my husband’s health deteriorating while he was waiting for a new kidney. It got to the point where I wanted to step in and see if I could donate one of mine. My son and I went for tests to see if we were a match with Alias and unbelievably we both were.
“I read stories online about other kidney donors who were leading normal, full lives with just one kidney and decided to go for it.”
Friends and family were concerned Shahnaz was putting herself at risk and were worried about religious issues surrounding organ donation.
But after consulting religious scholars who put her mind at rest, Shahnaz went through with the operation in July last year. Now husband Alias, a taxi driver, is making a good recovery and is thrilled to back at work.
Shahnaz added: “I don’t regret for one second having donated a kidney to him. Unfortunately there are lots more poorly patients on the waiting list for new organs. I’d encourage people to sign the Organ Donor Register so that one day they can help save a life too.”
Currently, 26 per cent of patients awaiting organ transplants in Greater Manchester are from black and Asian communities, yet less than 2 per cent of those who have signed the register come from those backgrounds. Shahnaz will join the TV stars at a special stand in Manchester’s Arndale Centre tomorrow to encourage more people to sign up to the register.
Transplants can be carried out between people from different ethnic groups, but an organ is more likely to be a close match, and as a result a transplant is much more likely to be successful, if the donor and recipient have the same ethnic origin.
