Iain is a 34-year-old data analyst and works for another charity, Dementia UK. Away from the computer screen and work, his huge passion is sport – with basketball, football and running being his main interests. He also take an active role in his community through campaign work on making his local streets people friendly and accessible for all. He donated his kidney to someone he didn’t know after coming across a news article about the number of people waiting for a kidney transplant on the NHS waiting list. Here he shares more about his experience of non-directed living kidney donation.
After reading about altruistic kidney donation, I started to look into what donating a kidney would entail. I decided that I would wait a couple of years and if I still felt that I would like to become a living donor then I knew I hadn’t rushed into anything. To me, it seemed a relatively straightforward decision: I have two kidneys, and I could live a long and healthy life with just one and there is someone out there who is in need of a kidney.
I discussed my decision to donate a kidney with my now wife and after going through all the information that I had been provided with and the reassurance that I could live a long and healthy live with just the one kidney, she was onboard.
Just at the time that I decided to become a donor, there were over 5,000 individuals on the waiting list for a new kidney*. Each of those 5,000 individuals all have family and friends so this was an opportunity to not only help at least one person and their situation, but also hopefully have a positive impact on their family and friends too.
I wasn’t nervous in the lead up to my operation as the team at Royal London were fantastic. I had gone through so many different tests and scans to ensure that I was healthy enough to donate and that my other kidney was healthy enough to carry on doing the work on its own. Having had a number of surgeries previously (though none as major as this), I was comfortable in a hospital situation. My recovery went well, though as an active person, I think I may have tried to push myself to get back to full fitness a little quicker than I should have, but everything has worked out.
Fortunately for me, I had a very understanding employer in Dementia UK, and I was able to receive full pay for the time I was off recovering after the surgery.
I wouldn’t say my life has changed particularly – I am able to do everything I did before – but the ability to positively impact on someone else’s life makes you feel all kinds of good.
And although I haven’t heard from the person who received my kidney, the simple knowledge that I have helped someone else out is more than enough.
*as at September 2025, there are around 6,500 people in the UK waiting for a kidney transplant.
