Brass band pals Gus and Sue hit the right note when they beat odds of a quarter of a million to one so she could donate him a kidney
Sue has saved her band mate's life after op
BRASS band pals Gus and Sue hit the right note when they beat odds of a quarter of a million to one so she could donate him a kidney.
Cornet player Gus Andrew, 59, desperately needed a transplant after suffering kidney failure and enduring years of debilitating dialysis.
After learning of his plight, euphonium player Sue James, 45, badgered him for months to accept her selfless offer.
Even when he eventually accepted the remarkable gesture, the chances of the pair being compatible were extremely remote.
But amazingly they matched and underwent successful surgery.
Now grateful Gus - who’s fitter than he’s been in years - admits Sue saved his life.
He said: “I’ll forever be in Sue’s debt.”
The pair are now desperate to encourage others to repeat their incredible story.
Live kidney donation - also known as altruistic - to a “stranger” has only been legal in the UK since 2006.
The Scottish arm of the charity Give A Kidney is determined we become the first country in the world where no one dies from needing the organ.
Gus fell ill while living in Mexico in 2009. After initially being misdiagnosed by his doctor he was delivered the shattering news after checking himself into hospital.
He said: “I was feeling constantly exhausted and had itchy legs. It turns out this was a symptom of kidney failure. I was walking to shops three blocks away but couldn't make it so got in a cab to hospital.
“They carried out tests and told me my kidneys had shrunk so they were almost non existent.
“I then saw a specialist who said in his 25 years he had never seen anyone so ill. He said I needed to start dialysis within 48 hours or I could die.”
Medics believed his kidney failure came from a lesion left after he had hepatitis 12 years earlier.
Shattered Gus was desperate to get home but was too sick to fly.
But after a year on dialysis he was deemed fit enough to return to Scotland.
He said: “I was initially at the Queen Margaret Hospital in Dunfermline then the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy.
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"They gave me incredible treatment, I can’t praise the NHS enough. I started to feel better immediately with the dialysis three times a week. They hadn’t been giving me enough in Mexico.”
Gus had two years of treatment and was on the waiting list for a new kidney.
But it was at band rehearsals that his life changed forever.
He said: “We barely knew each other but one day Sue came up to me and said she knew the predicament I was in and would like to offer me a kidney.
"I was taken aback, I didn’t know why she would want to help me. Then at every rehearsal she would say, 'I’m serious, I want to help you'.
“I couldn’t understand it, it took me about five months to get my head around it.”
Bighearted Sue, from Dunfermline, said: “I knew Gus was ill but I didn’t really know him.
“He was in a bad way and needed a kidney. My sister-in-law was a kidney nurse so I knew what was involved.
"There was only a one in 250,000 chance that we would be a match.
“Some of my family were a little bit concerned. But I told them you can live a very healthy and normal life with just one kidney.
“I kind of just knew I needed to do it, I don’t see it as a big thing or want any thanks.
“The world is a really messed up place and there’s not a lot of people who do kind things and help each other.
“When I come to leave the world I’ll know I’ve done something people can remember me by.”
The pair had ten months of tests to make sure they were compatible.
They underwent a series of rigorous physical exams while Sue also had psychological analyses to make sure she was mentally strong enough.
Then on October 29, 2013, they both went under the knife.
Bar worker Sue said: “I’d written letters to Gus, my friends and family to be opened in the event that I died.
“I knew that we were both going to be OK but there’s always a chance.”
Sue went into theatre a couple of hours before Gus so surgeons could remove the kidney to be given to him.
Both ops lasted around five hours with amazing results.
Gus said: “When they connected up the kidney it started producing urine immediately on the table.
“It was extraordinary, it started there and then.
“The surgeon said it was one of the best transplants they’d ever done.”
Sue said: “It was incredibly painful, I’m not going to lie. But It was worth it.
"I would do it again if I could. I went home after only two and half days. We’ve called it Sidney the Kidney. I'm the mum and Gus is the dad.
“I actually feel healthier now than I did before. My blood pressure has dropped and my weight has stabilised.
“I don’t have any explanation. I get my kidney function checked regularly and it's been great.
“They take incredibly good care of us and we’re monitored so closely. My job and life changed for the better.”
Gus spent several days in hospital before eventually being allowed home.
He said: “After a few days you just suddenly get better. I had to drink nine litres of fluid a day to keep the kidney working.
“For the first six weeks I had to go to hospital every day. They checked my blood, urine, just all the usual stuff.
“I get checked every three months now, then it goes up to six months then a year.
“I’m on a lot of medicine to make sure my body doesn’t reject the kidney but my health is tremendous now.
“When I was on dialysis I couldn't get up two steps. But today I've walked up two flights already.”
He added: "I work with a function band and we do weddings. I’m also part of the Scottish Swing Orchestra.
“It's fun to get back to doing what I love.”
Gus had been waiting a year for a transplant and had three possible donors which didn’t work out.
But when Sue came along he came off the list.
Gus said: “It didn’t just help me but everyone else who moved up the list.
“Sue is just amazing. She has given me my life back, I didn’t have one before. Dialysis just keeps you alive.
“I can't thank her enough. If I can help her with anything then I'll be there. It's not something that a normal person would do.
“There are a lot of lovely people in the world and Sue is one of them.
“We need more people like Sue, that’s why we got involved with Give a Kidney.”
Since 2006, 52 people in Scotland have benefited from a live kidney donation, ALL from people they have never met.
Give a Kidney aims to sign up enough donors to match those waiting for a kidney in Scotland.
Give a Kidney's Scotland chairman Chris Jones said: “We all have two kidneys but only need one to lead a full and healthy life.
“There are more than 400 people in Scotland at present waiting for a kidney transplant. Most of these people are on dialysis.
“Around 30 people die each year in Scotland unnecessarily whilst waiting for a kidney.
“Most people still don’t know that they can donate a kidney.
“Our aim is that Scotland becomes the first country in the world where nobody has to die or wait for a kidney."
Sue added: “Gus is always thanking me but at the end of the day everyone has two kidneys and we have the ability to save somebody that otherwise would die.
"There are a lot of ill people out there relying on the generosity of others and sadly from people who have died.
“Dying from kidney failure shouldn’t be accepted now.
"That's what Give a Kidney is all about.”
Give a kidney - one's enough
SINCE 2006, 52 people in Scotland have benefited from a live kidney donation, all from people they have never met.
Charity Give a Kidney aims to sign up enough donors to match those waiting for a kidney in Scotland.
The organsations’s Scotland chairman Chris Jones said: “We all have two kidneys but only need one to lead a full and healthy life.
“There are more than 400 people in Scotland at present waiting for a kidney transplant. Most of these people are on dialysis.
“Around 30 people die each year in Scotland unnecessarily while waiting for a kidney.
“Our aim is that Scotland becomes the first country in the world where no oney has to die or wait for a kidney.”
For more information go to www.giveakidney.org