A mother of four who needed a new kidney posted an appeal on Facebook, and a stranger came forward to donate his. Karen Davey, 42, had exhausted all avenues to find a suitable donor as she was deteriorating rapidly, so she turned to social media.
The mum-of-four said she never expected a response, but Gary Summerfield, 60, was scrolling on the site when he spotted her post. He reached out to her and, after learning he was a match, donated one of his kidneys via an operation in July.
A 'hero' donor
Karen, of Rhondda Cynon Taf, said: "I was lucky to find somebody like Gary. But there are good people out there and people that want to help. He's just my hero. He's an amazing person inside and out.
"I've loved getting to know him - and we will continue to be friends. My family are just grateful."
Karen had a heart transplant 10 years ago after suffering a heart attack while watching her son play football. She said: "I knew when I had my heart transplant 10 years ago that at some point I would probably need a kidney because the drugs I'm on for the heart are toxic to them."
Deteriorating kidney function
The warning became reality when, three years ago, doctors discovered her kidney function was deteriorating. She added: "I found out about three years ago then I dropped into stage three kidney failure. And it just gradually went down from there."
Her friends and family were all tested to see whether they could donate a kidney, but none were suitable matches. She faced an even tougher battle with a nationwide shortage of donors being two to three years, revealed this week by NHS Blood and Transplant. But if you have a living donor, it can be about three to six months.
Karen, who is a grandmother of one, said: "My family all got tested first, and nobody was suitable, and friends then and again nobody was suitable, and that's when I put the plea on Facebook.
"It was a big decision to do with that, but we explored all avenues, and we thought, 'well, we'll give it a go and see what happens because we've got nothing to lose' - and quite a few people came through."
The online appeal
The online appeal received a number of responses, including one from Gary, who came across Karen's post after finishing a night shift. Gary said: "I came home from work after a night shift and had a doom scroll on Facebook. All of a sudden, Karen's plea came up. I just felt an overwhelming desire to help her and her family."
After discussing it with his loved ones, Gary, a security guard from Blaenau Gwent, decided to begin the donation process. He said: "I spoke to my family and asked them what they thought of it, and they said they know I'm a strong believer in donated organs."
Karen said Gary kept her updated throughout the lengthy testing process. About six weeks before the operation, Karen learned that Gary had been approved to donate and then met for the first time before the transplant.
Karen said she was reassured by Gary's commitment to seeing the process through. "He was very sure that he was not going to back out at any point, because even up to the day of the operation, he could back out at any point because it's a big operation for someone to go through. He was reassuring that he wasn't going to back out, and he told me his reasons why he wanted to do this."
Personal connection
Gary said Karen's story struck a personal chord. "What struck me was that she is a very similar age to my daughter," he added. "I chatted with my two daughters. They said, 'Go for that; we know how you feel about that'."
Karen's health battle began years earlier when she suffered what she initially thought was a minor problem while watching her son play football. She said: "I was at the side of a football pitch watching my son play football and all of a sudden I had this horrendous pain in my chest. Not at one point did I think it was a heart attack.
"About 10 minutes later, the pain had gone, but somebody had already called an ambulance. So I went down in the ambulance just to get checked out, thinking it was something of nothing. We were due to go on holiday two days later."
Doctors discovered she had suffered a spontaneous heart attack. During surgery to repair a hole in her heart, she suffered three more heart attacks. "When they went to repair the hole, I had three more heart attacks on the table. And it destroyed the left side of the heart.
"I didn't think at any point that it was a heart attack until they confirmed it. And they only did tests just to be on the safe side. When it came back that it was a heart attack, it was a big shock."
She eventually underwent a heart transplant and spent three months in hospital at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham. "It's been difficult because even though I've had the heart transplant, it's like a temporary fix. It doesn't make you better because I know that at any point that heart can go wrong because it's not mine," she said.
Years later, routine tests revealed her kidneys were failing, and at their worst, they got down to seven per cent. She had already begun dialysis, but that created further risks because of her transplanted heart.
"The dialysis puts pressure on the heart, so that's why I needed a donor sooner rather than later," she said. "But I was on the transplant list as well, but the transplant list is about three years long. And I can't put any extra pressure on the heart."
Fortunately for Karen, Gary proved to be a match, with the transplant taking place on July 15. But Karen's recovery was not without complications. "I caught an infection, so I ended up having a second operation where they had to reopen the wound," she said. "I was in the hospital for 17 days. But I'm feeling so much better than I was. The infection's gone now and the wound's healing slowly."
Best decision
Karen said posting the Facebook appeal was one of the best decisions she ever made. "I thought long and hard about it because I didn't know how it would go down. But it was the best thing I did," she said.
Speaking about her donor, she added: "He's just my hero. He's an amazing person inside and out. And I've loved getting to know him. And we will continue to be friends."
But Gary insists the real hero is Karen. "I believe it was an easy process for me; there's nothing heroic about that," he said. "If there's somebody out there desperate for help, you go to help."
Praising her determination throughout years of serious health challenges, he added: "Karen is a hero. She is a warrior."
And after receiving the lifesaving transplant, Karen says her family are simply happy for the second chance. "They are just grateful," she said.
