Daughter gives mum her kidney as birthday gift

A woman from north-west London gave her mother "the gift of life" by donating a kidney on her birthday.

Dishna Hirani, from Wembley, “didn’t have any hesitation” in getting tested when Prevanda Varshani, 67, needed a transplant.

When choosing a date for the surgery, Ms Hirani, 45, decided a new kidney was "the best birthday gift anyone could ever get".

Since the life-saving operation, the family celebrates both Ms Varshani's birthday and "kidney-versary" together and encourages people from all ethnic groups to become donors.

When they received the news in 2017 that Ms Varshani’s kidney function was deteriorating rapidly, it came as a “shock”.

“I was with her when she saw the consultant and I remember it clearly,” said Ms Hirani.

“I just remember her face – she was in complete shock.”

On the way home from the hospital, she told her mother she would get tested and donate if she was a match. But her mother was "very hesitant" at first.

“She was concerned about taking something as important as an organ from her daughter," said Ms Hirani.

She added that, as an Asian woman, "in our community, that isn’t how things are normally done".

“But I stayed very headstrong. This was something I wanted to do. It was my body and I wanted to do this for her.”

After Ms Hirani was told she was a good match for her mother, two dates were offered for the transplant.

“By pure chance”, one of them was her mother's birthday.

“I thought, ‘Let’s pick mum’s birthday’," said Ms Hirani.

“It felt right. That might sound crazy, because who would want to have surgery on their birthday, but that’s her birthday present forever.

“She’s got the best birthday gift anyone could ever get.”

Ms Hirani had one wish before going in for surgery.

“I was able to see my mum in the morning and say ‘happy birthday’ before I went under, so that was brilliant,” she said.

“It was really weird but I wasn’t apprehensive at all. I just thought ‘this is it, I’m going to give mum my kidney and hopefully all goes well’.”

Despite some complications during surgery, the transplant was successful.

Her mother has got her “zest for life back” and can now spend more time with her grandchildren.

“My new kidney has given me a new lease of life,” said Ms Varshani.

Ms Hiran, who is supporting the Make Your Mark campaign, said her mother is "a new woman, she’s not tied down to dialysis, she’s not tied down to anything".

"She can go about her life as normal and do what she wants without having a huge impact on her life," she said.

“It’s the best feeling ever being able to give my mum the gift of life.”

Ms Hirani, who is Hindu, explained organ donation is not against her religion but there is a lack of knowledge and education around the subject.

She now wants to raising awareness, as NHS Blood and Transplant appealed for more organ donors of Black and Asian heritage.

“Our faith tells us that we should be giving and charitable, including donating blood if we’re able, but when it comes to organs, people have a lot of opinions," she said.

“We want people to be more aware of living kidney donation and realise that it’s not a bad thing at all, it doesn’t deserve the stigma.”

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