Woman who gave kidney to friend urges more people to consider becoming donors

Pauline Davies told how she donated a kidney to her friend, Alloysious Massaquoi.

The kidney transplant was carried out at Edinburgh’s Royal Infirmary (David Cheskin/PA) (PA Archive)

A man whose failing kidneys saw the once vibrant 65-year-old transformed into “an old man who wasn’t coping” has been given a second chance after one of his friends became a donor.

Pauline Davies, 65, took the decision to give Alloysious Massaquoi one of her kidneys after seeing the devastating affects that the disease had on him.

Ms Davies, from Costorphine, Edinburgh, said: “Al was always such a vibrant smiley man and his illness had transformed him into a man who wasn’t coping.

“When I went to dialysis with him, I could see that people were seriously ill all around us and I couldn’t bear it anymore.”

Alloysious Massaquoi and Pauline Davies at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary (NHS Lothian)

Within hours of the transplant, the difference in his condition was noticeable, and now the pair are urging more people to consider kidney donation as part of World Kidney Day.

Mr Massaquoi, who moved to the UK from Liberia, said: “I really think more people should donate an organ.

“If your car is damaged – you buy a new part and fix it, but why won’t you do that for your fellow human being?”

Mr Massaquoi and Ms Davies have known each other for more than 20 years and met when they worked as housing officers at the council, and she put herself forward to check if she was a kidney match.

Within days she had the news she was, and then spent the next few months being assessed to ensure she was suitable to be a living kidney donor.

Mr Massaquoi said he “couldn’t believe it when Pauline phoned me and told me that she was going to donate to me”.

They had their three-hour surgery at the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh in August 2020, and Ms Davies described it as “the best thing I have ever done” and that it “has changed his life and mine”.

She said: “I don’t see what I’ve done as amazing, but I think the joy of knowing that you’ve changed someone’s life is a phenomenal feeling.”

For many people with end-stage kidney failure, a transplant significantly increases life expectancy.

But, because of the shortage of organ donors in the UK, it means many patients will wait on average three years for a kidney from a deceased donor.

NHS Lothian’s living kidney donation team said that only about a third of living donor transplants in Edinburgh are from a related donor, such as a parent or sibling, and often a direct living donor may be a spouse, partner, friend or work colleague.

Nina Kunkel, who was their transplant coordinator, said there were “a lot or myths surrounding kidney donation and this story shows you that you don’t need to be related or be from the same ethnic background to donate a kidney to someone”.

“We really have the best job in the whole of the NHS. It’s not often that you meet someone like Al who captures your heart – his positivity is infectious and everywhere he goes, he makes people smile.”