GOL shoot 10 - Lucy and Nicola

On Tuesday I travelled down to Bramley in Hampshire to meet five year old Lucy and her Mum Nicola. Lucy was diagnosed with Juvenile Nephronophthisis in early 2008 which causes a progressive destruction of both kidneys, meaning that she will need a transplant at some point in the near future.

Lucy is tube fed through the night but eats small amounts in the day. She has a good appetite though and enjoys choosing what she'd like to eat, though often can't manage much more than a few mouthfuls.

Nicola has been tested (as well as her husband) and is fortunately a good match for Lucy. At the moment Lucy's kidney function is steady but if it drops much more she will need a kidney transplant or dialysis.

Lucy was an absolute pleasure to photograph – she is a real girly girl loving all things pink and sparkly. As Nicola and I chatted she sweetly 'cooked' us lunch bringing us little bowls full of carefully selected toy foods. Before we sat down to some lunch she proudly showed me her room (pink, of course!) and her favourite toys. Lucy, who told me she wants to be a toothfairy (too cute!) or a teacher when she is older was lots of fun to be around and to photograph – she was happy to play games and sing Abba in to her CD player whilst I snapped away. She gets tired easily from her condition and Nicola told me it can be very up and down.

It was really nice to chat to Nicola, who is absolutely lovely, about everything, and I had a fab morning. I'm sure we'll keep in touch and I wish them the very best with Lucy's upcoming transplant - I'm sure it will be a great success and Lucy will be even more full of beans!

GOl shoot 9 - Archie and Malcolm

Last week I climbed aboard the train to Lymington in Hampshire to meet seven year old Archie, his Mum Tammy, Dad Malcolm and little sister Evie.

Archie was born with posterior urethral valves, a condition that can cause urine to be pushed back into the bladder and renal failure. When Archie was only eight months old Tammy and Malcolm were told that he would eventually need a kidney transplant. Shortly afterwards Archie was put on peritoneal dialysis whilst Malcolm and Tammy both got tested to see if they could be a donor for him. It was decided that Malcolm was a better match and the operation went ahead in 2003 when Archie was only two years old.



Almost 6 years later you would never have guessed that Archie had gone through so much – he is one of the most confident, polite and chatty seven year olds I have ever met. Full of energy he and Malcolm happily kicked a football around the garden whilst I snapped away enjoying watching the two of them have fun together. Archie's lovely little sister Evie skipped around the garden whilst they played so I took some photos of her too.





Intrigued that I had had a kidney transplant like him Archie quizzed me about it asking if I had a new kidney inside me too. He is clearly very proud of the fact that his Dad gave him his kidney and it was obvious from the cheeky banter that went on between them that they are very close indeed.

GOL shoot 8 - Laura and Ken

Laura and I struck up a friendship a few months ago after she read my blog. Laura was working up towards her transplant - which she received from her Dad - Ken, and I had just had mine. Laura's transplant went ahead in January of this year and was a success. From then we emailed each other regularly swopping experiences and asking for advice. Very handy stuff.

Laura also lives in Swindon so the very kind Linda dropped me off at her parent's house at which I was presented by lots of lovely cats and beautiful art! Ken is an artist and paints incredible paintings which I loved. You can view his work here.

Laura suffered from an auto immune disease which attacked her kidneys. After 4 months on PD (quite enough for anyone!) Ken was able to donate his kidney to her.

Ken's studio was an excellent setting for the photographs, but I also took a few in the garden and in the living room below a painting by Ken - the naked Beatles. Very cool.

It was fab to meet Laura after all this time and we hit it off really well. It's unusual to meet someone around the same age as me who has had a transplant so it's always good to chat about things from a 'twenty something' point of view. We seemed to be of a very similar mind when it came to transplants - we both just want to live as normal life as possible and not be just labeled a 'transplant patient'.

Laura's lovely Mum cooked us all pizza and chips (not forgetting chcolate ice cream) and Laura's husband, Simon, came along to say hello. All in all a very enjoyable shoot. I hope Laura and I see each other again soon.

GOL shoot 7 - Sarah and Shep

Sarah and Shep have been going out together for 8 years. Shep knew he'd need a kidney transplant at some point in his life but when his kidney function fell dramatically one day he was forced to go on dialysis. Shep's family, Sarah and Sarah's brother all got tested to see if they could be a donor for him. It looked as though Sarah's brother was going to donate his kidney to Shep but at the last moment it was decided that Sarah was a better candidate and she went ahead and gave Shep her kidney in November 2008. The operation was a success and they both look absolutely great - you'd never know either of them had gone through major surgery only a few months ago.

We met up in Covent Garden for a drink before heading over to Soho to a little hidden courtyard where I used to work. The summer's evening light teamed with the light blue tones of the door provided a really chilled out setting and Shep and Sarah were brilliant at being natural in front of the camera.

It was really lovely to meet them both. Sarah's really involved with campaigning herself - she is the lead singer of a band called The Floe and soon the band are releasing their debut single entitled 'I Hope You Know' which will be released on the anniversary of Shep's transplant. All proceeds are going to The Transplant Trust. The release of the single will coincide with the NHS Blood and Transplant campaign 'Prove it' which launches on November 2nd. You can check out the band here - they're music is fantastic and I have no doubts that the release of their single will be a huge success.

GOL shoot 6 - Tracey and Linda

L-R Tracey and Linda

Tracey has been a kidney patient for over 20 years and she knew that a transplant was always going to be on the cards at some point. Luckily for her, her big sister Linda was a match and offered to donate her kidney to Tracey. On 30th April this year - which also happened to be Tracey's birthday - the operation went ahead and was a success. I doubt if anyone else will ever be able to match that birthday present!

I travelled up to Swindon to Tracey's house to meet the couple and we immediately began chatting away about our experiences over a cup of tea. Tracey's house was full of lots of little quirky things and she had a beautifully tended to garden which was full of lovely little treasures that Tracey had accumulated over the years and I was determined to capture that part of her personality in the photos. She even has a house rabbit who sweetly hopped around the living room whilst we chatted.

It was lovely to chat to Tracey about what she had been through - having had my transplant a few months before she did I was able to provide an insite on how I feel now compared to a few months ago and whether I had any ups or downs in the kidney transplant rollarcoaster. Tracey and Linda showed me a book of photos of their transplant journey and already I could see how much Tracey looked now that she had had her transplant.

After the photo session in Tracey's garden, Linda kindly drove me to my next couple's house who were conveniently located only ten minutes up the road...