65 years of supreme acts of altruism in Scotland that should inspire us all
In the 65 years since the UK’s first successful kidney transplant, more than 2,000 people have become living donors
In 1960, Lewis Abbott was told he had between six months and a year to live unless he had a pioneering kidney transplant operation. After his twin brother Martin volunteered to donate one of his kidneys, surgeons at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary carried out what was the first successful procedure of its kind in the UK. “What's mine is his,” joked Martin.
That same year Harry Wilson was born. Now 65, he has just made the same sacrifice by donating a kidney to save the life of his brother Gordon, 67. Gordon said that when he called Harry after being told he needed a transplant, “he immediately said, 'have mine' – that made me well up”. Harry explained: “It was a no-brainer.”
Since 1960, more than 2,000 living donor kidney transplants have taken place in Scotland. It is testimony to the expertise, skill and dedication of the scientists and medical staff whose work made such operations possible.
And, in these troubled times, it underlines that, despite all our faults, human beings are capable of supreme acts of altruism. All we need to do is allow ourselves to be inspired.
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