A mother who appealed to her local newspaper for a kidney donor for her ill daughter has described as “really bonkers” the twist that the journalist she contacted turned out to be a match and donated her kidney.
Maria Solecki, 48, from Hadleigh, Essex, said her 16-year-old daughter Maya needed a transplant after severe kidney damage from an E. coli infection in January 2024. After family members and Facebook contacts were ruled out, she contacted the Echo newspaper in March 2025. The journalist she spoke to, Emma Palmer, 51, decided to get tested and proved to be a match.
The transplant operation took place in January this year. Maya called Palmer “my hero” and said: “I keep telling her I wish there was a bigger phrase than thank you.” Palmer said: “To think that a 15-year-old girl – as she was at the time – was having to go through so much and giving up hope just really got to me.”
Ms Solecki said around 20 people came forward for testing after the appeal. She was not told who was tested until November, when Palmer’s identity was revealed after passing health checks. “I could not believe that of all the people we tested, it was actually the journalist who I first made contact with,” she said.
Maya, who now feels “amazing” after the transplant, still has a chronic condition but her life is “100% better”. Ms Solecki urged others to consider donating: “The call to action is for anyone who might want to donate to a child or a young person, please don’t hesitate.”
