When doctors told Rebecca Hill her kidney was failing and she would need a donor, her husband put his hand up "without a second thought".
“As soon as we knew our blood was compatible, I started tests. It’s not a life I wish for anyone,” he said.
“I didn’t even give it a second thought.”
The Greenfields man has watched his wife Rebecca struggle for over a decade, with a debilitating kidney disease called focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS).
In simple terms, Rebecca said the disease means she has “holes in her kidney”.
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Since her diagnosis at 21-years-old, the Baldivis woman said she had lost weight, felt lethargic, suffered with pain and was made to put plans of having children on hold.
“I couldn’t start a family. The medication I am on is too toxic,” she said.
Rebecca said she was overwhelmed with the support she had received from family and friends, after being told she needed a new kidney.
“A few people put their hands up to donate...family members and a couple of friends,” she said. “I feel very loved.”
Kidney transplants from living donors in Australia make up about three out of every 10 kidney transplants each year, according to Kidney Health Australia.
Richard said the average life expectancy of Rebecca’s new kidney would be about 10 years, before she will have to receive another kidney or go back onto dialysis.
But she will feel “much better” then she did before, he said.
“She will have fifty per cent kidney function and I will have 50 per cent,” Richard said.
“The kidney will grow, and they will have about 70 per cent hopefully.”
The pair will go into surgery at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital on Thursday.
The couple have created a GoFundMe account, raising money for the travel costs, bills and time off work which can be accessed at: https://www.gofundme.com/4ybvd28.
For more information on kidney health and being a donor, visit www.kidney.org.au.