Man born with four kidneys in 1,000 mile charity challenge

Tom Goodwin calls himself "Kidney Tom" in tribute to Sir Captain Tom who raised £32.5m for the NHS

A man born with four kidneys is walking from Land's End to John O'Groats to raise money for research.

Tom Goodwin was nine-months-old when he received life changing treatment at Bristol Children's Hospital, which left him with three functioning kidneys.

Calling himself "Kidney Tom" in tribute to the late Sir Captain Tom who raised £32.5m for the NHS, he is hoping to raise £10,000 for Kidney Research UK.

He said: "I wanted to do something to give back to renal medicine research."

Fewer than one in 10,000 people are born with bilateral duplex kidneys where four kidneys are formed instead of two.

He said telling people he was born with four kidneys was a good icebreaker

The 33-year-old, from Plymouth in Devon, said it was only when he was treated in Bristol as a baby that his condition was identified.

"One of my kidneys wasn't fully formed so it was removed," he said.

"As a result I now have two kidneys on the right side and one on the left and I've been healthy ever since."

He said as a child he "wasn't fully aware" he was different and it was only later that he "thought it was quite cool".

"Telling people I was born with four kidneys was a good icebreaker at teenage parties and university," he said.

"But I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the fantastic NHS team who provided my treatment."

So far Mr Goodwin has raised more than £4,000 for Kidney Research UK

In a bid to "give something back" and help fund renal research, Mr Goodwin is walking 1,000 miles (1,609 km) from Cornwall to Scotland.

So far he has raised more than £4,000 for the charity.

"No one really thinks about their kidneys until something goes wrong," he said.

"But I'm determined to fundraise as much as possible for them and for the people like me who rely upon the expertise of NHS professionals."

His two month challenge is expected to end at John O'Groats in mid-October.