GOL shoot 15 - Ashley and Nick

Ashley and Nick are brother and sister and at the beginning of the year Ashley donated her kidney to Nick. Nick suffers from polycystic kidney disease and so knew he was going to need a kidney transplant for a while. He's doing really well now and Ashley is absolutely fine too.

I met up with them both in Brighton on Friday night. I've always had a soft spot for Brighton - I'm not sure why, but I'm guessing it's something to do with being by the sea and the constant whiffs of fish and chips that float your way! So I was spolit for choice with places to photograph Ashley and Nick. It was late afternoon when we met and was a beautiful warm sunny day. The sun was setting and so I made the most of the evening light and photographed them walking along the beach with the sunset in the background and also did some close ups.

Afterwards we had a drink on the beach and chatted and then I wandered off to take some more photos, grab some fish and chips and get on the train home...

GOL shoot 14 - Sam and Simon

I met Sam and Simon at Sam's Mum's house which was only a short walk from my house....and only two minutes away from my old flat. So literally a trip down memory lane!

Sam donated her kidney to her husband Simon on the 7th July this year. It was an AOB incompatible transplant which means that Simon had to undergo a treatment called plasma exchange to remove any antibodies from his blood that might try and attack Sam's kidney which has a different blood type. It's literally amazing how much medicine has advanaced and how these kind of transplants can be successful nowadays.

Simon's transplant was a success and he looks and feels great. I had a really nice chat with them over a cuppa and they're both really lovely people.

Here's some photos from the day...

GOL shoot 14 - John and Liz

Over the past few months I've shot lots of different donor and recipient couples - husbands and wives, mother and son, father and son, boyfriend and girlfriend and friends. But up until now I hadn't photographed a brother and sister. So that's where the very lovely Liz and John came in!

Liz donated a kidney to her brother John 10 years ago now and John is doing brilliantly. I was invited over to Liz's house for a delicious lunch and very good chats. John is the Chair of the Six County's Kidney Patient's Association which represents hundreds of people who have been affected by kidney disease. It was lovely to meet them both.

GOL shoot 13 - Liz and Jan - The 'after' shoot plus the Adidas 5K

Remember Liz and Jan? Liz donated her kidney to her best friend Jan at the end of June and I visited and photographed them just before the operation. I'm very happy to report that the operation was a great success, so much so that Jan and Liz decided to take part in the Adidas Women's 5K in Hyde Park on Sunday to raise money for their kidney unit! Amazing!

I couldn't believe how different Jan looked when I saw her - she looked so healthy and happy - it was amazing! Her skin looked a much healthier colour and the difference in her energy levels was really noticable too. Plus, as I told her, she looks about 20 years younger! Liz looks great too - to see what a difference Liz has made to Jan's life first hand was amazing. After we left the park and I was chatting away about how amazing Jan looked my boyfriend aka camera assistant numero uno remarked that that's how he and my family felt about me! It was quite strange to be on the other side of the fence for once!

Jan

Liz

A friend and advocate of Life Live Then Give Life also decided to do the 5K. Jess is 20 years old and has cystic fibrosis. She has been waiting for a new pair of lungs for 4 years and has sadly had 7 calls, but for one reason or another the opeartion has not been able to go ahead. Jess is very poorly and is on 24hr a day oxygen. Her lungs can only hold the enough air to fill a can of coke so the fact that Jess wanted to to do the 5K and walk 200m of every 1k was utterly amazing. She decided to raise money for LLTGL and is currently raised almost £1500!

Jess with her team - her Doctor, physio, dietitian, nurse, Mum and lots of friends.

Being filmed by Emily, chair of LLTGL. Emily completed the race in 2006 whilst waiting for her new lungs to come along. Read about Emily's experience of the day here. It's pretty amazing.

Off to the starting post

Along with 'Team Jess' she completed the race in amazing time and managed to walk parts of it too, she's absolutely incredible and an inspiration to everyone. My toes, fingers, arms, legs etc etc are crossed for her that her call comes soon and that she will be running the 5K next time.

Jess

GOL shoot 12 - Michelle and Max

18 month old Max was born with kidney failure and at three days old had to start dialysis. It really hasn't been an easy ride for the poor little guy. Over the past 18 months he has had four peritoneal dialysis lines inserted in to his tiny tummy and many other procedures to correct a blockage in his bladder and insert a peg tube in his tummy so he can be intravenously fed. Poor Max has also suffered from numerous infections and has to spend 12 hours attached to a dialysis machine a night.

Max watches as Michelle sets up his dialysis machine for the night.

What's absolutely amazing about Max though is despite his problems he is the happiest most positive little boy you could meet. He is constantly smiling and laughing and you would never know that he is unwell. He's such a little inspiration! He has masses of support from his Mum Michelle, Dad Shaun and two older sisters and older brother and he's clearly adored by all of them.

Max and his Daddy

Max really needs a kidney transplant but it's been a long tough road to get him ready for it. He had to weigh 10 kilos in order to have the surgery which isn't easy when you have a baby who doesn't eat and is only tube fed but Max managed it and Michelle went through the tests and is luckily a perfect match for him. The operation will go ahead early next year and Max and Michelle will then travel up to the Evalina Children's Hospital in London where Max will be given Michelle's kidney. After Max is ready to leave hospital, he and Michelle will move into hospital accommodation where they will live for 6 weeks. With the family based in Weymouth it won't be easy but Michelle and Shaun are determined to make it work and to make sure they all see each other as much as possible.

Michelle and Max

Despite Max's illness and low energy levels he is constantly moving around trying to walk and wanting to play and read books. After the transplant Max will feel normal and have masses more energy - Michelle's going to be chasing him all over the place!

Max didn't want to have his hourly tube fed and wanted to play instead. It isn't easy having a child with kidney failure.

He soon settled down though and was proudly showing me his tube and grinning away as usual again.

Max was fab to photograph, always posing for the camera and laughing. Such a cute little tyke. And it was also ace to chat to the lovely Michelle too.

Whilst I was photographing Max and Michelle a reporter came along from the Dorset Echo and wrote a rather nice article on us all. You can read it here.

A little intermission...

A few photos from my recent trip to Alderney in the Channel Islands, where I spent all my childhood summers. See my Flickr for a few more.

The Breakwater avec le sea mist

Dan

Josh

Will

Oli

Holly P

My Mum at the Torchlight Procession

My brother and friends

Inside a derelict forte that hasn't been lived in for many years (above and below.)

Dan in a trench

GOL shoot 12 - Shazia and Perveen

Shazia's Mum, Perveen, was faced with a Mother's worst nightmare. Her son and daughter had both been struck down with kidney failure and she could only donate a kidney to one of them.



Shazia was diagnosed with end stage renal failure in May 2006 and eventually went on to peritoneal dialysis in Aprtil 2007. It is rare to receive a kidney off the UK waiting list without a long wait if you are of an ethnic minority and the family were well aware of this. By pure coincidence Shazia's brother, Imran, was diagnosed with end stage renal failure too and also needed a transplant. Their Doctor had said that he'd never seen this happen to a family before.

As Shazia's kidneys were in a worse state than her brothers, it was decided that their Mother would donate her kidney to Shazia. Miraculously Imran received a kidney from the waiting list in October 2008 after only waiting three moths. All three of them are doing really well.



Shazia says since her transplant she has taken so many more opportunities up than she would have done before. She has just completed a conversion law degree and is starting Law School in London this month. As she said - all things happen for a reason!

GOL shoot 11 - Leroy

Leroy is an altruistic donor which means that he agreed to donate his kidney to a complete stranger. He has never met the recipient, and it's unlikely that he ever will - he literally just wanted to help somebody and his selfless act will have totally changed a person's life.

The first time I spoke to Leroy I asked him why he decided to be an altruistic donor and he told me that his motivation for going ahead was to honour the memory of his younger brother Daniel who died of leukemia aged 7 in 1977. He said that he had thought about donating his kidney for a whole but it was not until 2006 when the law was changed allowing altruistic donors to come forward that he could go ahead.

After contacting the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton all the necessary tests were arranged and Leroy donated his left kidney in February 2007 at St George's Hospital in London. His family weren't too keen at first but after a while they understood why he wanted to go ahead and help someone less fortunate than himself.

I really enjoyed meeting Leroy - he truly is an amazing person and it was an honour to chat to him about his experiences. Altruistic donors are incredibly rare and it was lovely to meet him. Leroy showed me a photograph of him and his younger brother Daniel alongside their older brother and whilst Leroy looked at the photo I photographed him. Loosing a little brother is something that I don't think anyone really gets over but I'm sure Daniel would be incredibly proud of Leroy if he was around today.