Man gives kidney to brother

It's no big deal.

That's what a local donor said about giving his left kidney away.

"You'd do it, too," said Ray Wakefield, 38, who, on Sept. 7, donated a kidney to his 40-year-old brother, Gary.

Ray will be the honouree of the Kidney Walk, hosted by the local branch of the Kidney Foundation of Canada, Sunday at the Charles Jago Northern Sport Centre starting with registration at 1 p.m.

The Wakefield family has a hereditary genetic disease in its midst called polycystic kidney disease.

Ray's dad Peter and Peter's brother William each have the disease along with Gary, who lives in Surrey.

Peter, who had a transplant a few years ago and William, who had a transplant about 20 years ago, are both thriving.

It took a bit of time for Ray to decide if he was doing the right thing.

"I've cut the chain," said Ray, who had to make sure he could not pass the disease along to his children or their children who might one day need his kidney for their survival. Brayden, 13, Kaylee, 11, and Emily, 8, are all safe from the disease.

As soon as he was assured the kids would not get the disease it was an easy decision to make.

Gary's kidneys were so damaged that they both needed to be taken out.

"When they were removed the kidneys weighed 52 pounds," said Ray, with a shake of his head.

"They took up so much room in his body that they had to dice them up and take them out. Gary's been on dialysis for probably five years."

Then he got really sick because dialysis was not working as it should.

"It was only a matter of time then," said Ray, who moved to Prince George about six months ago.

It took about a year of testing Ray's body to make sure he was healthy enough and the kidney was compatible enough to transplant into Gary's body.

"He's doing fantastic - he's already lost 50 pounds because now his kidney works," said Ray. But it took a while to get him there.

Ray's kidney was not a typical kidney and that complicated things. A typical kidney has one vein, one artery and one discharge going into the bladder. Ray's kidney had two veins, three arteries and one discharge. Ray said the doctors had to work on the kidney for about an hour before getting it into Gary and it took a couple of weeks before they knew it was going to work, he said.

Now Ray's remaining kidney and the kidney in Gary's body are working at the same capacity - about 50 per cent. Kidney function failure occurs at eight per cent so 50 is a strong number, he added.

Ray is six weeks into his healing and will have to take two months off work in total before he returns to his local job as a plumber and a full year for his body to completely recover. He is expected, at best, to reach 75 per cent kidney function and it will grow to accommodate its new solo status.

During this healing time Ray, who lost his mom to cancer a few years ago, said he is getting great support from girlfriend, Stacey, which has made the whole process so much easier.

"I'm doing good," he said. "The first few weeks were hard because you're trying to deal with it all and you're not used to laying in bed all the time. It's worth the two months off work to give Gary an extra 20 or 30 years on his life, you know? It's too soon for him to go. Some things you just gotta do."

Ray was warned that side effects from only having one kidney would include raised blood pressure and he needs to be careful of his potassium intake. But so far his blood pressure is the same as it always was and his attitude toward food is everything in moderation so the dietary restrictions don't bother him.

But no more snowboarding or extreme sports for Ray. He has to make sure to keep his remaining kidney healthy and safe.

Ray was able to access the living organ donor expense reimbursement program through the BC branch of the Kidney Foundation of Canada that covers costs related to donating a kidney including things like airfare, hotel, meals and loss of income.

Ray's a bit nervous being the honouree at the Kidney Walk and he's been told more than once during this process that he's a hero for donating his kidney to his brother.

"I don't consider myself a hero by any means - you just do what you gotta do," said Ray.

"People have become really selfish in society. When I donated the nurses kept asking me 'Who donates a kidney? Who does that?' People who really care about people - that's who does that."

The Kidney Walk, which raised more than $380,000 province-wide last year, takes place Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Charles Jago Northern Sport Centre at UNBC. Registration starts at 1 p.m., opening ceremonies at 1:45 and the walk starts at 2 p.m.

Walkers are encouraged to join friends, family and neighbours in taking their first steps in becoming a kidney hero by helping to raise funds for the foundation because one in 10 British Columbians has kidney disease.

The other component is to raise awareness about organ donation in B.C. It's important to consider being a donor of organs and tissues at the time of death because in Canada more than 4,600 patients are currently waiting for transplants.

Special guest Amanda Poch from Vancouver, who received an organ donation that saved her life when her liver failed at 26 years old, will be speaking in honour of her 10-year transplant anniversary. Poch, in partnership with the Kidney Foundation, is launching a campaign called Give Then Live to raise organ donation awareness throughout the province.

For more information about the walk visit www.kidneywalkbc.ca and click on the Prince George Walk. To pick up a pledge form call Diane at 250-962-7958.