Our forever was stolen by kidney disease after just three precious months
A woman from Greater Manchester is taking part in a major Liverpool charity walk next month, in memory of the man she fell for just months before he died from pneumonia complicated by kidney failure.
Nicola Harrison, 62, from Leigh, met Tony Kenny while on holiday in January 2026, and the pair continued seeing each other after they returned home. It was then that Tony revealed he was living with kidney failure and waiting for a transplant.
Nicola will be joined by close friends of Tony’s at the Kidney Research UK Liverpool Bridges Walk on Sunday 6 September 2026, which would have been Tony’s 51st birthday.
Holiday romance
Nicola and her friend Karen were enjoying a winter sunshine break in Benidorm to celebrate Nicola’s birthday when they noticed Tony and his group of friends.
Nicola says: “He wasn’t very tall, Tony – about 5ft 2in – and I’m 5ft 8in! They were all giddy and he was the quietest of the bunch, but we just clicked. He was a giant among men. We spent two days together before exchanging numbers as we headed home.
“I thought, ‘You’re never going to hear from him again,’ then he messaged me two days after I got home. He was dead keen! He lived on the other side of Manchester, and we met up two weeks later. Our first date was to watch Fatboy Slim.”
The couple spent the next three months enjoying each other’s company, going to restaurants and concerts and discovering new places together.
Nicola says: “He was a massive Liverpool fan, a massive music fan. He’d take me to places that I’d never been before, like the Co-op Live Arena, where we were joined by Kellie, a close friend of Tony’s."
Living with kidney failure
Tony had lived with type 1 diabetes since he was a small child. Around five years before meeting Nicola, he developed kidney failure and began receiving dialysis three times a week.
Nicola remembers: "Just before our first date, he said - ‘I’ve got something to tell you – basically, I’ve got kidney failure.’ He asked if it made a difference and I said, ‘No, why should it?’ Tony had struggled to meet someone because people thought he just wanted a carer – something that could not have been further from the truth."
Not long before his death, Tony had been accepted onto the transplant waiting list and several of his friends were having tests to see if they could be a match. After learning more about kidney donation, Nicola decided she also wanted to be tested.
She says: “I investigated it and was tested. If I had been a match, I would have had to discuss it with my children, but it felt like the right thing to do.”
Despite living with regular dialysis appointments three times a week, Tony rarely complained. He even arranged to have dialysis in Spain so he could go on holiday with his friends.
“It took him a year to organise. He said, ‘I’ve not been on holiday for so long. My mates are saying come, and it was the best holiday I ever had because I met you.’
“I used to tell him to slow down as he’d get quite tired. He’d say, ‘No, no, I’m alright,’ but I’d look after him and say, ‘I don’t think we should do anything today.’ But you couldn’t stop him – he was a nightmare.
“His favourite saying was, ‘Live life to the fullest, as nothing’s promised.’”
One final message
Tony was friends with Ricky Hatton and his family. On 20 March, Nicola, Tony and two of his friends attended a charity event for men’s mental health in honour of the boxer.
Nicola says: “He was singing away, ‘There’s only one Ricky Hatton!’ He introduced me to the Hatton family, and you could see the love and respect they shared.
“But he’d had a really bad cough for a few weeks. He’d had antibiotics, but they hadn’t helped, and his X-ray came back clear. I said, ‘You need to go back to the doctors because you need another X-ray.’ My daughter has had pneumonia and I knew what it sounded like.
The following day, Nicola told Tony to rest.
She says: “He messaged me that he’d been into work for a couple of hours but was just going to have some food then watch TV. Later, he messaged, ‘I’m going to get some sleep’ and ‘Goodnight, I will see you in my dreams.’”
Nicola has had this last message from Tony tattooed onto her thigh. Because the next morning, 22 March 2026, there was no usual good morning message. Tony’s friend Kellie called Nicola to tell her the heartbreaking news that Tony had passed away in his sleep from pneumonia, complicated by his kidney failure.
His funeral was held in Manchester, with around 200 people attending the church service and friends joining by video link from other countries.
For Nicola, the three months they shared will always be precious, and the memories they made will live on forever.
She says: “I was devastated to lose him. They say only the good die young, and I believe that after Tony. I was just drawn to him. He was just so kind, generous, considerate of others and enjoyed life to the fullest. I think we would have just been together forever. Sadly, our forever was too short.
“I always used to say to him, ‘You might be small, Tony, but you’re a giant amongst men.’”
Walking in Tony’s memory
After Tony’s death, Nicola wanted to find a way to do something in his honour.
She discovered Kidney Research UK’s Liverpool Bridges Walk and decided to take part alongside five friends of hers and Tony’s.
Nicola says: “The day of the walk would have been his 51st birthday. It was meant to be. Tony said, ‘I just want someone to make a fuss on my birthday’. So this is our fuss - and also an opportunity to raise awareness for those living with kidney failure.
“I’m on £600 raised so far but I’d love to reach £2,000.”
The importance of kidney research
For Nicola, supporting kidney research is a way of helping improve the lives of people living with kidney disease and giving them the time Tony tragically never had.
She says: “Before kidney transplants, people just died. New treatments only come from research. Any improvement to prolong peoples' lives or make life better, it’s important. Even to exchange a kidney – they didn’t know that years ago. It all comes from research.”
Liverpool Bridges Walk
Whether you’re walking in memory of a loved one, celebrating a kidneyversary or supporting someone living with kidney disease, there is still time to join #TeamKidney at this year’s Liverpool Bridges Walk on Sunday 6 September.