Help make a mighty difference for people like Bella this Christmas.
A message from Bella's mum, Nathalie
When someone in your family has kidney disease, making happy memories together is more important than ever.
Our six-year-old daughter, Bella, loves to look at photos of her happiest memories. They remind her of a life beyond kidney disease. Where she can play with friends, swim, dance and go on holiday without the restrictions of dialysis. A life we hope she can get back to when her wait for a transplant is finally over.
She often asks when her new kidney is coming. She can’t wait. So many sentences start with “When I get my kidney...” as she dreams of a life without being connected to a dialysis machine every night to survive. A life no longer spent feeling fearful and different from her friends.
Heartbreakingly, we don’t know when that future will become a reality, as my husband, Mike, and I are unable to be kidney donors for Bella. Like around 7,000 people in the UK, she faces an uncertain time on the kidney transplant waiting list. It could take years to find a match.
Bella has already missed out on so much, but research to make more kidneys available for transplantation gives us hope that waiting times will shorten. Will you help make research happen faster, so patients like Bella can get back to making more happy memories?
Every gift is life-changing for people like Bella.
Please make a special Christmas donation today.
Funding pioneering research
Brilliant supporters like you helped Kidney Research UK to fund an amazing research project by Professor Sarah Hosgood. She and her team at the University of Cambridge are developing a pioneering technique that could make more donor kidneys available to people on the transplant waiting list.
What if we could rejuvenate donated kidneys?
The team are pioneering a new way to improve the condition of donor kidneys that might otherwise have been rejected. They are using stem cells, gathered harmlessly from the urine of premature babies, with their parents’
consent of course, to try to rejuvenate kidneys. Isn’t that amazing?
“This research could lead to improved outcomes for kidney transplant patients by providing them with better quality organs that last longer. Without funding from Kidney Research UK, this research would not be possible.” Professor Sarah Hosgood
Your support will transform lives, helping more people get back to making happy memories.
Thank you.
Jack's story
Kidney disease has affected multiple generations of Jack’s family, including his grandma, mum, auntie and uncle.
Ann-Marie's story
Ann-Marie's kidneys failed in 2022 due to polycystic kidney disease which also affected her father and two uncles.
Bella's story
Six-year-old Bella is desperate to live a dialysis-free life, having been diagnosed with kidney disease four years ago.