'I donated my kidney to my father and saved his life'

A family is marking the 10th anniversary of a son's life-saving donation of a kidney to his father.

David Smith, 66, spent 20 years managing a serious autoimmune condition that eventually led to kidney failure before receiving the organ from Lewis, 34.

Along with David's wife Debra, they are marking the milestone with a trip to the Spanish city of Valencia.

David, from Brighouse, West Yorkshire, said: "Every year we celebrate our kidneys and never forget the gift of life. The transplant has been life-saving and life-changing."

He added: "I can't thank Lewis enough. He was absolutely brilliant and unwavering once he put his hand up."

David's health began to decline by 2013, when he was placed on the waiting list for a transplant.

He said: "I tried to hold off dialysis, but I was becoming very unwell as my kidneys were giving up.

"It was obvious that it was going to end in kidney failure eventually - I didn't know quite when but there really are only three options when you get into that territory.

"Dialysis, a transplant or, sadly, that you pass away."

Rather than face watching his father deteriorate while waiting for a donor organ, Lewis volunteered to undergo testing in 2015 and decided on a way to convince his father to accept his offer.

Lewis said: "I thought the best strategy was to write Dad a letter, as I suspected he might say no straight away if I raised it in person.

"So I laid everything out rationally, showing I'd done my research and understood I could live a full life with one kidney."

He added that it felt like it was "the natural thing to do" to step in and help.

David said: "It was a really difficult thing for me, and as a family, to get our heads around.

"It feels the wrong way round. I should be giving an organ to my son.

"Your instinct is to protect your child. Accepting that my son would go through surgery for me was hard."

He replied to his son's letter saying the two could talk at an upcoming cricket match, but neither managed to raise the subject during play.

However, after "many conversations" they agreed to proceed with testing at St Luke's Hospital in Bradford, which later confirmed the pair were a match.

They both underwent surgery in Leeds in April 2016.

"There was always a risk it wouldn't work," Lewis said.

"But we knew it was the best possible chance of success."

David added: "I remember waking up and being told my kidney function had gone from six to 86. I thought they were joking."

A decade on, his kidney function has stabilised at between 60 and 70.

David said the transplant had been "transformational" in improving his quality of life, and he now enjoys a level of activity he once thought impossible.

"I had an amount of energy I hadn't had for years before that. I think I got a Grade A kidney from Lewis - it's the Dom Pérignon of kidneys he's donated," he joked.

Lewis, who now lives in Gothenburg, Sweden, where he works as a cultural project director for a theatre design consultancy, said he had suffered no lasting effects from the procedure, other than a "staggeringly small" scar.

Assessing the impact of the pair's shared experience he said: "You can't compare Dad before and after the transplant.

"There used to be a shadow hanging over everything. Now he has energy and a drive to explore life again."

Lewis and David said the outcome of the transplant for the whole family had been "immense".

Both are now encouraging others to consider organ and living donation, saying it could "change lives forever".

Michael Speight from the live kidney donor team at St Luke's Hospital said: "Moments like David and Lewis's landmark anniversary give me immense satisfaction.

"Watching father and son come back, healthy and smiling, celebrating 10 years of life they fought for together, it's a kind of joy that reminds you exactly why this work matters."

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