IN a circle of life arranged between strangers and crossing state lines, a group of people went into different operating theatres six weeks ago, to give or receive a kidney.
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Just how many people were involved, and which kidneys went where, remains under wraps. What is known is that all of the operations went well, and second-time kidney recipient Jeni Winkelf is living proof of the benefits.
Mrs Winkelf arrived home to Mayfield East on Wednesday, relieved and delighted to be feeling well again.
Her husband, Oliver, who donated his kidney to someone in the circle, shares her joy.
‘‘I am just thankful that she is feeling so fantastic,’’ he said.
It is what’s known as the Australian Paired Kidney Exchange Program, designed to increase the options for living kidney donation.
A computer program is used to identify matches for patients who are eligible for a kidney transplant, and have a living donor who is willing but unable to donate because of an incompatible blood type or tissue type. A database of registered recipient/donor pairs is searched to look for combinations where the donor in an incompatible pair can be matched to a recipient in another pair. If there is a compatible match, two or more simultaneous transplants can occur by exchanging donors.
For Mrs Winkelf, it was the answer she was looking for.
She was down to 5per cent kidney function and it was fading fast.
‘‘Rather than waiting seven to eight years, if you can’t wait that long, but you can find someone who can donate but isn’t compatible with you, it’s a good option that not many people know about,’’ Mrs Winkelf said.
The operation was performed by Professor Jeremy Chapman at Westmead Hospital who has been treating Mrs Winkelf since her kidney and pancreas transplant 19 years ago.
The program has been running for about four or five years, he said, with 16 runs involving 70 people so far.
‘‘We might have three to four operating theatres running around the country,’’ he said.
For Mrs Winkelf the real hero is her husband, who bravely gave his kidney up for a stranger.
‘‘I didn’t really put too much thought into it,’’ Mr Winkelf said. ‘‘I was just looking for an option and they were presenting me with one and I thought, well, let’s go.’’
The couple celebrates their seventh wedding anniversary on Saturday.
