Albion Park mother Raquel Garcia will become a live donor on Tuesday when she donates one of her kidneys to save the life of her son.
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Brindon, 41, has been on dialysis for seven years due to kidney failure and has spent years on the organ transplant waiting list.
Two years ago Mrs Garcia, a mother of four, made the decision to donate her own kidney to ease the suffering of her second eldest child.
An initial blood test confirmed compatibility, and in the time since she’s had to undergo extensive testing and counselling to ensure she’s physically, and mentally, able to donate.
This month the live donation was given the all-clear so on Tuesday – at the age of 67 – Mrs Garcia will undergo surgery at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital to remove one of her kidneys. That afternoon surgeons will transplant her kidney into Brindon.
‘‘Ever since Brindon started dialysis we’d been hoping for a donor but it didn’t happen,’’ she said.
‘‘I was so happy when I found out I was compatible as while my son was putting on a brave face in front of his brothers and sisters and their children, I could see that he was getting very tired.
‘‘He was also getting depressed, especially when he heard of others who had passed away from kidney problems like he has. I just want to see him happy.’’
According to the Australian Organ and Tissue Authority living organ donation is not without risk to the donor, with the standard recovery period being four to six weeks.
Despite the risks, Mrs Garcia is not concerned.
‘‘I’ve been told I’m at high risk of complications because of my age but that doesn’t worry me,’’ she said.
‘‘I’ve had a happy life and enjoyed my family and I’m more worried about my son who is still young and should be enjoying life.’’
Brindon, who lives in Canberra where he works as a public servant, was excited about the future.
‘‘It’s been difficult as I work full-time and then three nights a week have to spend five hours on dialysis which makes for very long days,’’ he said.
‘‘Coming off dialysis will give me 15 hours a week back and it will allow me more freedom to visit my family in Wollongong and to concentrate on my career. I would never have asked for my mother to do this but I am very grateful to her,’’ he said.
On Sunday the pair had a ‘‘pre-operation party’’ with family and friends.
Brother Ken Garcia said the family was also supporting the inaugural Illawarra Big Kidney Walk/Run – still in its planning stages but expected to be held in February 2015.
‘‘After our experience we just want to help raise awareness for the disease any way we can,’’ he said.
Australia is a world leader for successful transplant outcomes – in 2013 1122 Australians received an organ transplant from 391 donors. Meantime, around 1500 people are on the nation’s organ transplant lists at any one time.