Grandmother’s urgent appeal for life-saving kidney donor

A grandmother of four from Barnet is appealing to the community to help locate a life-saving kidney donor.

Ruth Adley suffers from Crohns disease as well as Polycystic kidney disease (PKD), which has left both her kidneys covered in inoperable cysts and her kidney function at a dangerously low 16 percent.

Speaking to Jewish News, the 67-year-old said: “You can’t blast the cysts. There is literally nothing they can do; it’s not like kidney stones which I’ve had in the past.

“I’m freezing cold the whole time and get terrible cramps in my feet and legs. I get up for the toilet two to three times a night, sometimes three to four times, so I never get a good night’s sleep.”

Now Ruth, along with her children, Joshua and Natasha and sister Suzanne, are desperate to find a donor. Ruth said: “My son has the same disease so is not a match and my daughter has tried to go on the list but she has very young kids, so it’s not practical. My sister also tried but because she’s got Crohns, they rejected her offer.There is no other family to help.”

Following a recent hospital appointment, Ruth was placed on the pre-assessment transplant list under the umbrella of the Royal Free Hospital.

She says she has “no idea” where she sits on that list. “It’s all new to me, obviously, because I’ve only just been told. The consultant said if I can reach out to any friends, family or the community, that I’d be surprised how many people will want to help.”

Seven or eight people so far have expressed a willingness to be tested “when the time comes”, but the selection process may rule out several, if not all of them.”

Ruth says doctors will not consider “anyone with diabetes, or those on more than two tablets a day for blood pressure or if they’ve had certain cancers. They have to be very stringent in the selection process because they are looking after the donor too. But if we can’t get a live donor, then the average waiting time for a deceased donor is two to three years and before then I’d be on dialysis. That’s what I want to avoid if I can.”

Admitting it sounds “terrible to be asking”, she says “whoever would be willing to give one of their kidneys would obviously go through a rigorous testing process” and the doctors “would explain what they’d have to go through.”

Almost breaking down towards the end of her conversation with Jewish News, Ruth asks: “Please, please find it in your heart to give a kidney to try and help me so I can enjoy my grandchildren.”

If you would like to be considered as a potential donor to help Ruth, please email kidney4ruth@gmail.com