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Gift of love will save sister's life

Sep 27 2009 Sunday Sun

Alice told her sister from the start that she should not feel she has to go through with the op, and says she has been overwhelmed by support from her family and staff at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle.

But Patricia, a team-leader at a North Yorkshire factory, was determined from the start.

Alice continued: “I said she didn’t have to do it, but right from the very beginning she said she would.

“But I have told her she can change her mind at any point.

“She can say no right up until when they put her to sleep and I won’t think any different of her.

Patricia does not think she is doing anything special.

She said: “She’s my sister and I love her. Initially I was nervous, but when I found out it wouldn’t affect me I was fine.”

Alice has recently started to feel the effects of her failing kidney. She can’t walk far and doctors have banned her from going abroad.

Patricia, who has a holiday home in Turkey now cannot wait until the transplant is complete and Alice has recovered so the sisters can enjoy a holiday together.

The swap-op will take place when specialists at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital find a way to manage the antibodies in Alice’s blood, present from when she had a blood transfusion several years ago.

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