'I donated a kidney to my friend's son'

A mother who gave her colleague's son a new lease of life by donating one of her kidneys is encouraging others to come forward.

Susan Baldwin worked with Will Postgate's mum at James Cook Hospital in Middlesbrough and heard about his battle with a genetic condition called Alport syndrome.

In February 2022, after consulting with her family, she made the decision to have the operation and give Will one of her kidneys.

Now, the 25-year-old's kidney is starting to fail and Susan is appealing to others to become a living donor, saying it "has not affected my life in any way".

Will loves sport and was always fit and active before his health deteriorated and his life changed.

"I got put on dialysis and in a 24-hour day I was spending 20 hours asleep," he said.

"It was like a light switch, one day I was absolutely spot on and running no problem and then I tried playing football with my mates and I couldn't do five minutes."

None of Will's family were a suitable match to donate a kidney to him.

Susan heard about Will's struggle and thought it was "heartbreaking".

"Will is only a year older than my own son and has his whole life ahead of him," she said.

"I wasn't already registered for organ donation but after hearing his story I knew I wanted to help."

The new kidney gave Will years of normal life, which he says he has "made the most of", but he is now back on dialysis.

Susan hopes others will decide to become living kidney donors and said she "could not sit back and do nothing".

"I'm a stranger to Will and it was just meant to be. I'm a match and was willing to do it," she said.

"You'd like to think that if you were in the same boat there would be somebody out there to do the same for you."

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