Kidney transplant: Donaghadee father hoping for 'incredible gift'

Phil is hoping to get back to playing football with his son

Phil Robinson has not been able to play football with his son for about six months.

The 39-year-old is in kidney failure - there are no options open to him other than receiving a donor kidney.

Phil is one of about 90 people on the waiting list for a kidney in Northern Ireland.

"The thought of an organ being gone, done, and having to be replaced, is a shock," he told BBC News NI.

He said he has had to adjust to the idea that there is "no fix inside the hospital" and that doctors have told him there is no treatment that will "suddenly make your kidneys increase in usage".

Phil takes tablets every day, self-injects, and eats a specific diet to help manage his symptoms. He also manages visits to the renal unit in between work and being a dad to his son Lex.

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"I spend a lot of time with Lex, but whenever you've kidney failure I've very quickly found out that you get tired quite quickly," he said.

"Your time outside - with a usual eight year old out on bikes and running about - can be limited so you try to work the time so you're still getting him out, but you need to be careful that you don't overdo it as well and don't become ill."

Eight-year-old Lex also knows his dad is not well, and that they cannot play tennis or football together, but they can still play Xbox.

He also knows what would help dad get better.

"Eating healthy stuff, don't eat any unhealthy stuff and take his tablets every day," he said.

"And getting a donor. That means if he's on the donor list and gets a donor, he can get the transplant and then he can get his kidney."

Lex would like his dad to be back to full health

Dr Aisling Courtney is a transplant consultant at the transplant centre at Belfast City Hospital and said there are two ways a kidney can become available.

"By someone passing away who wishes to donate their organs, or by someone who's healthy and wishes to give their spare kidney to someone else," she said.

"In terms of the certainty that a kidney's going to work, that certainty usually comes with a living donor."

In the last decade, there have been almost 600 people in NI who've had a living donor kidney transplant.

Dr Courtney likens the process of a kidney donation to buying a second hand car.

"If you buy one from a reputable dealer you're pretty sure it's going to work - that's like getting a kidney from a living donor," she said.

"Getting a kidney from a deceased donor is like buying it from someone who's just selling their second hand car.

"It may say it's had one careful female owner, and it may do, or it may have quite a few miles on the clock that we're not aware of."

'Incredible gift'

Living donors can also decide to give their kidney to a stranger - that process is known as altruistic donation.

Dr Courtney added: "In the last decade we've had 66 of those individuals who've come forward out of the blue and said they're happy to give a kidney away to someone else.

"This group is very special group - they don't see the benefits of transplantation for their loved one, they don't see the impact of their incredible gift that they've given, but they're willing to do it to have a life transformed and know that they've done that, even though they don't see or know that person."

Dr Courtney says altruistic donors are life-changers

If Phil's kidney function continues to decline, he will soon need dialysis. That means 15 hours a week hooked up to a machine to help his kidneys work.

He is hopeful that there is a kidney out there for him - and that it will help him get back to the football pitch.

He added: "Getting a kidney is the best result.

"The success rate, especially at the City Hospital in Belfast is great, they're fantastic and it would be back out participating with Lex rather than just standing watching."