29-01-2025
Mum of three who needs kidney makes donor appeal
A mother of three with a life-threatening kidney disease has made a plea for organ donors to come forward.
Amber Simmonds, 29, has lived with hereditary polycystic kidney disease (PKD) since she was diagnosed at 13.
Her condition, which can lead to renal failure, has deteriorated in the past year, with her kidneys now only functioning at 12% capacity.
Mrs Simmonds, from Meon Vale, Statford-upon-Avon, has appealed for people to get tested to see if they could be a match to give her "a new lease of life.
Doctors have recently said her condition has moved into stage five, meaning her kidneys have less than 15% function.
"The last year has been incredibly difficult," said the mother whose children are aged just two, five and seven.
"I'm fatigued all the time; I have quite a lot of pain due to my kidneys being enlarged.
"They're three times bigger than they should be, so they push on other organs: my lungs, my bowels and my stomach.
"It makes it incredibly difficult to breathe sometimes and causes quite a lot of stomach issues."
The hereditary disease, which causes cysts to grow in the kidneys, was inherited from Mrs Simmonds' mother.
All three of her children have also tested positive for the gene.
The search for a new kidney for Mrs Simmonds is particularly narrow as she has a high number of antibodies, so a match has to be very accurate.
"It would mean the absolute world just for people to try, even if they're not a match, to go through that process of being tested would mean the world," she said.
"You could be giving me a new lease of life if you are a match.
"I could end up on dialysis for years, but if that fails, then the alternative is not great, and I want to be here for my family."
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