A YELVERTON man who gave a stranger his kidney has helped to raise awareness of such donations, with this year marking the 500th altruistic kidney transplant.

NHS Blood and Transplant revealed this week that 500 people in the UK have now donated a kidney to a stranger as a living donor — known as non-directed (altruistic) living kidney donation — since the law changed in 2006 to allow this. Among the 500 generous donors was David Hemmings, 72, who donated one of his healthy kidneys to a stranger in 2010.

David, a retired magistrate, donated his kidney at Derriford Hospital at the age of 66 — the 57th person at the time to make such a donation in the UK. He has since become an active campaigner in raising awareness of non-directed donation and became one of the founding members of the Give A Kidney Charity, formally set up in London in 2011.

David said: ‘There are currently more than 5,000 people waiting for a kidney in the UK and around 300 people die each year in need of one. I have always believed that if you are in a position to help someone else then you should do so, so it was a simple decision for me.

‘I’m delighted to be one of the 500 and feel a sense of privilege and gratitude for having been able to contribute to the work of the transplant teams who are doing this amazing work, week in and week out.’

Bob Wiggins, from the Give a Kidney charity, said: ‘We’re encouraging everyone to consider if you could share your spare. Many people still don’t know that any healthy adult can volunteer as a living donor. As a result of people like David donating, many hundreds of lives have been changed for the better. Not only that, but together this group has already saved the NHS tens of millions of pounds over the cost of keeping the recipients of their kidneys on dialysis treatment.’

Any healthy adult can volunteer to be assessed as a living donor and a kidney from a living donor is the very best treatment option for most patients with kidney diseases. The volunteer donor goes through a thorough assessment over several months to ensure they are fit and healthy and that the risk to them is as low as possible. If approved, they are matched with a suitable recipient from the transplant waiting list, or they can also enter into a sharing scheme which enables one non-directed donor to potentially ‘trigger’ up to three transplants.

Lisa Burnapp, lead nurse for living donation at NHS Blood and Transplant, said: ‘Nearly three hundred people died waiting for a kidney transplant last year.

‘Living donation is highly successful and hundreds of people have had their lives saved and transformed in reaching this milestone over the past decade, thanks to the incredible generosity of these donors. Through donor chains, up to three people can benefit from a single donation because it can trigger a chain of transplants. The more people who are willing to consider donating in this way, the more kidneys there are available to help everyone waiting for a transplant.’

Living kidney donation has been taking place in the UK since the 1960s. It is a highly successful form of transplantation carried out at NHS hospitals and regulated by the Human Tissue Authority.

People wishing to consider giving the gift of a kidney to someone as a living donor can find out more at www.giveakidney.org

To register your wish to donate your organs after your death, please visit the website www.organdonation.nhs.uk