Published: Thursday, 31st December, 2009 7:25am

Keep it in the family

A COUNTY father-of-two has been handed a new lease of life after his mother-in-law gifted him one of her kidneys.

Alex Proudfoot, from Bothwell Gardens, Dunbar, was battling against a rare kidney disease that left him ill and facing organ failure, until his brave relative stepped in to help, in what was a surgical first for Scotland.

Ann Watt, 65, was desperate to help her severely weakened son-in-law, but doctors initially told her she couldn't be an organ donor because she wasn't a direct match.

However, surgeons at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary adopted a brand new procedure to allow the surgery to go ahead, after they used a pioneering technique to reduce Alex's blood antibodies.

The county dad and Ann, from Edinburgh, are both recovering well following their operations on November 4, and the groundbreaking surgery is now set to give new hope to transplant patients across the country.

Alex, 46, said: "I was first diagnosed with a cyst on my kidney in 2001. I was told it was a chronic illness that had no cure, so, obviously, we were all very worried about the future, but it wasn't until two years ago that I really started to go downhill. By then, I was expecting to undergo some form of treatment and even surgery, so it wasn't too much of a shock.

"I had began to lose all of my energy and I soon had to begin dialysis. I always held out hope that a donor could be found but I never expected that person to be so close to home. Our families have always been close, my mum and Ann used to go horseriding together, so it wasn't a shock to me that Ann would volunteer to help me."

Following the successful, pioneering operations, both Alex, who spent just 12 days in hospital, and Ann, who was only in for five, recovered well within the expected time frame.

Alex added: "We have both been feeling great since we got home. In my case, it was almost immediate. I felt my body becoming warmer right away, which is a good sign, and I have a lot more energy than I used to.

"It's a precious gift Ann has given me and I intend to look after my body now, so I'm afraid alcohol and contact sports will be the things to go. I'd really like to thank everyone at my work, my family and friends for all their support and, not least, all the staff at the hospital who were quite magnificent with us.

"I just hope this publicity will show people who are currently on the waiting list that there is hope, and this new procedure is now available in Scotland.

Before the operation, Alex suffered from an incurable polycystic kidney disease, which eventually leads to organ failure. He was put on the organ donor list in 2008 but had no luck until mum-in-law Ann volunteered.

The University of Edinburgh manager is now looking forward to enjoying 2010 with his wife Judy and daughters Zoe, 16, and Katie, 13, when the Dunbar couple will celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary.