Coronavirus and the cancelled kidney transplant

Lockdown has resulted in a dramatic change in the lives of many young people - and this is especially true for Mali Elwy.

The 19-year-old student was due to receive a kidney transplant from her brother Morgan on 24 August, but the operation has had to be cancelled due to the coronavirus crisis.

The news came as a huge blow, not only for Mali but also for her family.

"I was really looking forward to having the operation," she said.

"The transplant was meant to be done at the end of August but unfortunately it was cancelled. There's still uncertainty about it.

"I hope I can get it by the end of the year, but you never know - things can change again."

Mali was diagnosed with cancer when she was three years old.

Mali's brother Morgan, now 24, is donating his kidney to her

"My mother said the tumour was the size of a loaf in my left kidney so they took both out," she explained.

"People can normally survive with one kidney but in my case the right kidney had post-operational failure and since then I have been diagnosed with a condition called chronic renal failure"

Since the lockdown, Mali has been shielding with her family on their farm near Llansannan in the Conwy valley.

"The lockdown has been a really weird time for me. I went into isolation with my grandmother for the first three months as I thought it would be easier as both of us are in the at risk group," she said.

Mali shielded with her grandmother Doreen for the first three months of lockdown

"But I'm now back home living with my mother and my brothers."

Even though Mali lives in a rural area the lockdown has been a worrying period for her.

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"At the beginning it was hard for me mentally as we didn't understand what was the situation with Covid and what was going on, and [it was] unprecedented," she said.

"The news and media reports kept saying that Covid was dangerous for older people and those with underlying health conditions, but I am young and also have a serious health condition - so it was really scary for me," she said.

"I kept thinking - what am I meant to do?

"At the beginning, I was scared of leaving the house and didn't want to go out ever again.

"Then as the months went by, everyone else was in lockdown too so I didn't feel as though I was losing out, as we were all in it together.

Mali with her mother Sioned at her brother Morgan's graduation

"But now that the restrictions have been relaxed, people have been going out again and their lives have gone back to normal, but it's weird for us, as we are still shielding.

"My family have been so supportive - my mum and my brothers have been so strict and keeping to the social distancing rules and staying at home just to keep me safe."

Mali has just finished her first year at Bangor University, but she had to take a year out to be able to recover from the transplant operation.

She has decided to continue with her plan of not returning to university so she can be ready to have her transplant as soon as possible.

"I get some bad days and some good days. I am trying to hold back as long as I can from having dialysis, but it looks like I might have to start the treatment in the next month or two," she explained.

"I really hope I don't have to start dialysis, and get the transplant done as soon as possible."

There's still uncertainty about when the transplant will be rescheduled but Mali is hopeful that she might have her new kidney from her brother before the end of the year.

Mali with local children during a trip to Patagonia in Argentina

"Hospitals have been able to start doing operations again so there is a glimmer of hope that I can maybe have my operation in the autumn," she added.

"I do count myself lucky as I have other options. My older brother Morgan is amazing and has given me his kidney and therefore, I'm not on any waiting lists waiting for a kidney.

"But it breaks my heart to hear of other patients who are critically ill and need a transplant now or can't get the treatment they desperately need and are dying - not from Covid but from their condition.

"It's horrible.

"I hope I get the transplant as soon as possible.

"I hope that my brother Morgan, will get better after the operation, and that I can recover and return to university in 2021 and most of all, that this will be a distant memory of a bad chapter in my life."