Jonny

I didn’t know anything about living donors or anything like that – it was all about going on the transplant list. I don’t remember when I found out about it, but it got to a point where it was like – I might as well find out if I’m the right blood group. Because there’s no point reading up about it without knowing first, because the first stage is knowing if it’s possible. And so then I went to the GP, went to the hospital, got my bloods taken, found out the next day that I was a match. And then it was a lot of thinking, then it was sort of… Is it possible? What’s the steps? What would it mean for me? What would it mean for my dad? What the risks are … and what the alternatives are.

So then there are lots of tests and lots of people to speak to, and lots of thoughts. I remember a stage when my dad was called in for a transplant, with someone who had unfortunately died, and there was a liver, and it was the right match. And I was waiting by the phone all day to see what was going to happen. And I remember thinking, Do I want this to happen? Do I want him to be potentially given a bad liver, which would, in the short term, save his life, but then in the long term, maybe five, ten years down the line, he’d get hepatitis C or …. I remember thinking maybe that’s not the best option, and maybe I should think a lot more, and carry on with these tests.

So it was a long process. And yeah, obviously beforehand…. Everyone says afterwards how are you, you must be struggling, and for me, afterwards it was much better. Beforehand, the months before, that was the hardest for me because it’s just the unknown – the fear of the unknown – you don’t know what’s going to happen, what the recovery is like. But once it was over, it was just relief and it was just … wait out the recovery period. And it all went well, which was the most important thing.