Friend’s gift of life for kidney patient

1:30pm Friday 28th November 2008

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A CORSHAM man has spoken of his gratitude to the friend who is to give him one of her kidneys.

Dick Cooke, from Charlwood Road, has spent the last four years of his life using a dialysis machine every day after cancer destroyed the vital organs following four bouts of the disease.

Mr Cooke, 53, who spends several hours hooked up to the machine at his home, will go into surgery in Southmead Hospital in Bristol on Tuesday after his long-time friend Victoria Conrad, 54, undergoes an operation to remove one of her kidneys to donate to him.

He said: “I was overwhelmed when she said she would donate one of her kidneys. It’s the most wonderful gift you can give to anyone; the gift of life.”

The friends have known each other for more than 20 years as Mrs Conrad, a nurse at Box Surgery, has children who attended school and clubs with Mr Cooke’s son Jimmy, 21.

Originally Mr Cooke’s sister was going to donate her kidney, but it proved incompatible.

The offer came after Mr Cooke bumped into Mrs Conrad in a car park and explained his situation to her.

He said: “She just said ‘you can have one of mine, I mean it’ and so I gave her some DVDs and some books to look at about what it would mean and she was keen to go ahead.

“I think her family were cautious for her health at first, but once they felt reassured they felt better about it.

“It’s an amazing thing for someone to do, I can’t describe it. It will mean so much to me and my family as it will mean I get back half a day of my life every single day as I won’t have to use the dialysis machine for several hours each time.

“I will also be able to visit friends and go out when I went.”

Mr Cooke, a self-employed landscape architect and tree consultant, said he was looking forward to helping in the community, and to travelling with his wife Barbara, a teacher at Corsham Primary.

Mrs Conrad said: “He has been a great friend and I have seen what he has gone through.

“He works so hard at keeping well and he really is an ambassador for the things people on dialysis can do. My family all know and love him so they are all very supportive too.”

Mrs Conrad will be in hospital for five days, followed by six weeks of recovery.