Mum of boy who needs kidney asks for Asian organ donors

Harvey has been waiting for a kidney transplant for the last two years

A mother of a boy who needs a kidney transplant has pleaded for more Asian organ donors as she described being on the waiting list as exhausting.

Karen Bahia, 34, from Coventry, has been waiting two years for a kidney transplant for her son, Harvey.

Latest NHS figures show an increase in the number of people with Asian heritage on the waiting list.

"We need to be having more conversations to encourage people to join the register," she said.

Harvey, four, was diagnosed with kidney condition Posterior Urethral Valves and has stage five chronic kidney disease, travelling to Birmingham's Children's Hospital three times a week for dialysis.

His mum, who has looked after him full-time since he was born, said she was worried about how he would continue to accommodate dialysis when he starts school in September.

"As dialysis takes at least half a day, I'm worried that he will miss so much time at school," she said.

Figures published in the NHS Blood and Transplant's annual report on Ethnicity Differences in Organ Donation showed people of Asian heritage represented 3% of deceased organ donors last year.

The report also showed that family consent is lower for donors from ethnic minority backgrounds, with consent rates at 40% for ethnic minority donors, compared to 71% for white donors.

Ms Bahia said more needed to be done to raise awareness and get more people of Asian heritage to sign onto the NHS Organ Donor Register.

The pair travel to Birmingham's Children's Hospital three times a week for Harvey's kidney dialysis

"I don't know whether it's perhaps a cultural or religious thing or whether it's because people have fears about their own health," she explained.

"We need to continue to raise more awareness, whether that is getting into our local community centres or libraries, we just need to be having these conversations more often."

She said she hoped more people would consider signing up so her son and others in need of a transplant could get a "second chance to live."

"I look around the wards and there are lots of Asian children still there, some have been waiting for a transplant for several years.

"Donating is giving another person a second chance to live," she said.

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