A grandmother of four has issued a desperate plea for a potential kidney donor after a match withdrew at the eleventh hour.
A year after Jewish News issued a community-wide appeal, 68-year old Ruth Adley from Barnet is now back to square one. She has Crohns disease as well as polycystic kidney disease (PKD), which has left both her kidneys covered in inoperable cysts and her kidney function at a dangerously low 13 percent. This time last year, it was at 16%.
Daughter Tasha Langleben has called the last year a “huge rollercoaster”. She says: “A number of incredible people came forward to offer to be a donor. Extraordinarily, the first person who went through the testing process was a match. They had to go through the initial blood test, then some further matching tests and finally some tests to confirm she was physically fit to have the operation. We were all ecstatic that a match had been found and we starting to look at timelines.”
Due to the complications of Ruth having Crohn’s disease, she needs two complex operations for this transplant. The first will involve removing her kidney using robotics and then after some dialysis, the second will involve putting the donor kidney in.
Tasha adds: “Just as we were looking at dates, the donor withdrew because of personal circumstances changing. As you can imagine, this was heartbreaking.”
Ruth Adley. Pic: Courtesy of family
Devastated, the family returned to the existing list of donors but “unfortunately a few were no longer able to offer due to their own change of circumstances and another 2 were not matches.
In the last year, Ruth’s condition has deteriorated further, so finding a donor is more important than ever.
Tasha says that winter is particularly hard because her mum’s main symptoms are extreme fatigue and being very cold all the time. “We are appealing for another ridiculously kind person to come forward, it only takes one person to be a match and save a life and as we approach Chanukah, we’re looking for our own miracle.”
Ruth, an Arsenal fan who loves playing cards, going to the cinema and spending time with her family, told Jewish News: “I was completely overwhelmed that anyone would make such a selfless offer for a stranger and now I’m asking once again, if there might be anymore incredible people, who would be willing to be tested.”
If you are willing to be tested, please email [email protected]
