Dad in desperate need of kidney saved by daughter's teachers

A dad in desperate need of a kidney has been saved by two teachers at his daughter’s school, sparking a donor chain that saved eight more lives.

Dad-of-two Neil Emmott was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease (PKD), which causes cysts to grow on the kidneys, in 2001, and watched in agony over the next 15 years as the vital organs began to fail before his eyes.

In 2016 the usually shy and private Neil, from Fort Lauderdale in Florida, was forced to make his plight public as his search for a suitable kidney became ever more desperate.

By the beginning of 2017, the 56-year-old’s kidney functionality was down to just 11 per cent, leaving a single percentage of function before he would need to be put on emergency dialysis.

When Neil’s wife, Lisa, and his brother, Gordon, were ruled out as potential donors on account of minor health issues, Lisa broke down in front of one her colleagues, Allison Malouf, at the Bethany Christian School – explaining the family’s dire situation.

Ms Malouf, who teaches the couple’s youngest daughter Mackenzie, nine, didn’t hesitate in offering up her own kidney to Neil after her husband donated his kidney to save a stranger eight years previously.

Unbeknown to the family, another teacher at the school, Britani Atkinson, had also registered herself as a potential donor for Neil in secret, hoping to save them from any more disappointment in the event she was rejected.

“The diagnosis came as a huge shock to us – we were just enjoying our first year of marriage,” Lisa, a kindergarten teaching assistant, said.

“[We] watched and waited as his kidneys slowly and steadily began to fail.

“When I was denied to donate a kidney, panic, fear, and sheer anger all made me a prisoner of my own mind.

“The only thing I wanted to do in my life was to give a piece of myself to save my husband – but I couldn’t do it.

“I knew I had only one choice – it was either get busy finding a donor for my husband, or get busy selecting a casket or urn.

“I knew that Allison’s husband had donated a kidney eight years ago, and I wanted to tell her about it all because I knew she would understood the donor process and the emotions that accompany the journey.

“Her immediate response was, ‘I want to donate my kidney. Let’s get me tested for Neil’.

“I was so shocked and politely declined her offer – but she insisted.”

Ms Malouf was approved as a donor in May 2017 and was soon followed by Ms Atkinson, who was also approved.

However, on account of conflicting blood types and kidney sizes, neither of the pair could directly donate to Neil so they instead registered with the National Kidney Registry.

Allowing incompatible donor-patient pairs from all over the country to set up four-person ‘chains’, where donors can evenly swap compatible organs, Ms Atkinson’s universal blood type allowed her to quickly find a match. By September 2017, Neil was undergoing surgery.

Despite her initial designated recipient receiving a life-saving intervention, Ms Malouf remained inspired to donate her kidney and after beginning a chain of her own, four others’ were saved – including a 14-year-old boy.

Now enjoying Neil’s renewed health, Lisa is hoping her story helps to comfort others desperately in search of a kidney.

Hoping others follow in the “heroic” footsteps of her friends, Lisa said “if life is a classroom, Britani and Allison wrote the lesson plan”.

“Within 24 hours of Neil receiving a kidney, his health was drastically improving,” she said.

“It seemed too good to be true that in just a matter of moments the numbers were climbing.

“I had seen him so grey and sullen for so many years, but now the colour had come rushing back to his face.

“It’s nearly impossible to express the gratitude we feel.

“Britani and Allison don’t see their actions as heroic at all, they both said, ‘Why wouldn’t I donate my kidney? I have two and I only need one.’

“Each always say they’d do it again if they could.

“Most people don’t know about living kidney donation – it’s a very safe procedure.

“Raising awareness is half the battle.

“I want our story of survival to serve as someone else’s roadmap with their kidney compass always pointing them in the right direction.”