THE mother of a teenage kidney patient today pleaded for thousands more people to join the organ donor register and help save her life.

Debbie Senior said she and her daughter Lauren had been waiting for a year – with suitcase permanently packed and mobile switched on 24/7 – for the phone call saying she could finally undergo a vital kidney transplant.

But because of the shortage of donors, Lauren’s 16th birthday had recently passed by without the most important gift she could have been given.

Lauren suffers from a rare condition called chronic renal impairment, secondary to reflux nephropathy and renal dysplasia and her kidney function has now fallen so low she would inevitably have to start undergoing dialysis soon.

Speaking exactly six months after The Press launched its Lifesavers campaign, Debbie said: “She doesn’t want to go on dialysis – what teenager would? But it’s only a matter of time.”

Debbie, from Pocklington, said her message to readers of The Press was: “If you haven’t yet signed up to go on the register, please, please do so today – for Lauren’s sake. Please sign up to save her life.

“The bottom line is that the more people there are on the register, the better the chances a suitable donor will be found who can transform Lauren’s life.”

She said the most recent tests had shown that Lauren’s kidneys were functioning at only 11 per cent of capacity, compared with 16 per cent at the start of the year.

Other blood tests had also come up with poor results, and doctors were increasingly pressing for dialysis to start before levels declined even further.

Dialysis is used to compensate for kidney failure, mechanically carrying out the functions normally done by the organ.

Debbie said: “She has some more tests next Monday, with the results back Tuesday, that will show if things have got any worse. They wanted to give her a transplant before her 16th birthday but they just haven’t had a suitable kidney become available.”

Debbie told in January how she had wanted to give one of her kidneys to Lauren, only to discover she had the same kidney illness.

Instead of a live transplant op, she had to have a diseased kidney removed for her own health.


How to join the register

JOINING the Organ Donor Register could not be easier.

You can sign up by completing the form below and sending it to Freepost RRZK-SHUXSBCK, NHS Blood and Transplant, FoxDen Road, Stoke Gifford, Bristol BS34 8RR.

Alternatively, you can sign up by:

• Going online at organdonation.nhs.uk

• Phoning the 24-hour donor line on 0300 1232323

• Texting SAVE to 84118


Tell us your story

ARE you waiting for an organ transplant? Why not help us to help you?

As part of our Lifesavers campaign, we are keen to raise awareness of the importance of organ donation and what it means to the people involved.

If you have a story to tell, you can phone 01904 567131, email newsdesk@thepress.co.uk or write to Newsdesk, The Press, 76-86 Walmgate, York, YO1 9YN.