by LIZ GRIFFITHS
Algarve residents Rod and Touchelle Smyth announced this week that they have been given approval by a British hospital for Touchelle to donate her kidney to her husband, even though they are incompatible.
The donation of an incompatible kidney is a more complicated option but the procedure has had great success in Japan, Sweden and America.
Rod Smyth, 49, has been suffering from kidney failure and has been on dialysis for 10 years. He was on the waiting list in Portugal but, after suffering a minor stroke following an operation, he was removed from the waiting list.
Rod and Touchelle decided to work on having the transplant in the UK as the health services have experience of dealing with the additional complications the incompatible kidney transplant would bring.
This has meant costly expenses as Rod is no longer a UK resident. Now the Churchill Hospital, part of the Oxford Radcliffe hospitals in Oxford, has given the couple the go-ahead.
Touchelle has been fundraising tirelessly, raising 40,000 euros for the hospital expenses and for the living expenses as Rod will have to live there for six months to ensure the kidney is not rejected.
She told the Algarve Residenti: “This is definitely the route we want to go down but we do need to do more research as it is a very new type of operation.
“The only way we are incompatible is by our blood group but in other areas such as tissue typing we are a match. The fact that we have this option is fantastic as we were getting closer to having the money for the operation but no kidney. This means that we will be keeping it in the family, which is what we always wanted. I’ve been told it could happen as soon as February and March.”
The option is more expensive than budgeted for and an additional 10,000 euros will need to be raised.
On December 12, Golf 4 Rod will be taking place at Alto Golf near Alvor to help raise further funds for Rod’s operation with a Texas scramble competition commencing at 8am.
A Christmas turkey will be first prize, with one for each team member, and runners up will also receive a prize.
Chef Jonnie Pratt from Bistro des Z’Artes will be offering festive snacks on the 9th hole and a bouncy castle will be in the grounds entertaining children.
Tickets cost 50 euros, which includes lunch, and tickets for children cost 25 euros. Children under six go free.
Golf 4 Rod has a limit of 72 places, with 18 teams made up of four people.
Any funds not used directly for Rod’s operation and the living expenses in the UK will be split between charities in the UK and Portugal.
Please make your reservations by emailing [email protected] or by calling Kate Rouse on 912 970 014.
No-one was available for comment at the Churchill Hospital by the time the Algarve Resident went to press on Wednesday.
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