Oliver’s story

“When I was eight years old I had a 24-hour bug and about a week later my kidneys failed. I was diagnosed with stage four chronic kidney disease and placed on dialysis for the following few years. No one else in my family had kidney disease and we were totally unaware of the impact that my failing kidneys would have on my childhood.

“First it was haemodialysis; my parents had to take me to hospital three times a week and see me hooked up to a machine that was saving my life. I remember finding it very painful and I struggled to cope, so the doctors switched me to peritoneal dialysis which I had at home. Through tubes in my stomach, I was hooked up to a machine for ten hours each night. But while this machine was keeping me alive, the whole dialysis process was awful and, over a period of time, I ended up in intensive care four times. On two of those occasions my parents were advised to call in family so goodbyes could be said!

“Once my parents even got a call telling them to bring me to hospital for a transplant, but the operation was cancelled at the last minute as the donated kidney was damaged in transit.”

After that, Oliver’s mum put herself forward for living donor testing. She was found to be a match and just as they were waiting for the call to go in for surgery, they received a different call, saying that a kidney from a deceased donor had become available and was a near perfect match.

The transplant operation took place at Leeds hospital and the new kidney worked immediately. Oliver was 12 years old. Thirteen years later the kidney is still going strong. So last year Oliver decided he wanted to give something back.

“For a huge part of my life, I have received treatment, care, medication and support from doctors, nurses and the NHS. I am so grateful for that and to the leading kidney research charity, Kidney Research UK. If it wasn’t for them, many of the treatments and medications that kept me healthy may not have been available.”

Last year Opus raised over £1,300 for kidney research when they entered a team into a 10-mile Tough Mudder obstacle course.

“This year, we want to do even more, so we’ve had the ‘proudly supporting Kidney Research UK’ logo added to the back of our vans. And we have committed ourselves to do something through the business every year to help raise even more funds for research.

“I am super proud of the fact that I am now in a position where I can actively support my chosen charity through my company.

“I hope one day that will enough awareness and support for research, a cure for kidney disease will be found. Thank you Kidney Research UK.”