A woman who saved a six-year-old girl's life is spearheading a new drive to raise awareness of the need for living kidney donors.
Susan Greig, 44, from Leven, Fife, donated a kidney to Megan Stone in July 2015.
Megan, from Pershore in Worcestershire, was originally diagnosed with acute kidney failure in 2011, caused by Haemolytic Uraemic Syndrome (HUS) after suddenly contracting a serious strain of the E.coli virus.
Her first kidney transplant went ahead in 2014 but due to complications the transplanted organ ceased functioning just 24 hours after surgery.
She was put on a transplant waiting list in March 2015 and four months later, a perfect match was found with a living donor.
Ms Greig said: "I found out before the surgery that the recipient was going to be a child. I wasn't prepared for how much I'd think about that person in the weeks and months that followed.
"I knew the transplant had been a success, but understood that I might never know more. When I received a letter from Megan's grandfather, it blew me away. It was like the icing on the cake.
"That letter meant the world to me. It's like a fairy tale and I feel lucky and privileged to have been part of it. It's up there with getting married and becoming a mother and will stay with me for the rest of my life."
A healthy person can lead a completely normal life with only one working kidney and over the last 10 years, 500 people in Scotland have become living kidney donors. Around 100 people donated in 2015/16 alone.
There are more than 400 people waiting on a kidney transplant in Scotland and a successful transplant from a living donor is the best option for people with end-stage kidney disease.
Siobhan Stilwell, Megan's grandmother, said: "When Megan's first transplant failed, we knew it was a race against time. Doctors told us that there was a 75% chance Megan would have to wait up to two years for a transplant, but it was the only option for her.
"Thankfully our wait was short, thanks to the decision of someone we had never met.
"Megan has been given her life back. On her sixth birthday she said all she wanted was a new kidney, and her wish came true."
Since the transplant, Megan, now seven, has been able to go to school, learn to ride her bike and has become a competent swimmer who will compete in the Westfield Health 2017 Transplant Games in North Lanarkshire in July.
Jen Lumsdaine, living donor transplant co-ordinator, said: "As Megan and Susan's powerful story illustrates, living kidney donation transforms lives. Yet, many are unaware it is possible to donate a kidney to someone in need of a transplant during their lifetime.
"Almost half of all kidney transplants now come from living donors, which is fantastic because living donations lead to better results for patients."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here