A woman who posted a desperate plea for a kidney donor on Facebook has undergone a successful transplant thanks to a complete stranger. Karen Davey, a 41-year-old mother of four from Brynna in the Rhondda Cynon Taf area, had exhausted all traditional options before turning to social media to avoid leaving her family without a mother.
Gary Summerfield, a 60-year-old security guard from Tredegar in Blaenau Gwent, stumbled upon the post and discovered he was a match. He immediately volunteered to be tested and donated one of his kidneys during a six-hour operation at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff on July 15.
“I saw Karen’s appeal and she mentioned the children,” Summerfield explained. “Karen is a similar age to my daughter and her youngest child is the same age as my grandson. If it were my daughter, I would want a stranger to come forward if all avenues had been exhausted. I thought it would be selfish not to.”
Summerfield added, “I thought this lady needs one of my kidneys more than I need two of them.” He described the donation as one of the most significant events in his life, ranking it alongside getting married and having his own children.
Following the surgery, Davey reported feeling “100 times better.” This was her second major transplant; she received a heart ten years ago after suffering a heart attack at age 31. The medication required to prevent organ rejection subsequently led to kidney failure.
“I knew the tablets I was taking following the heart transplant would damage the kidneys,” Davey said. “We always knew when I had the heart transplant that I would probably need a kidney transplant at some point, and that is hard to deal with mentally.”
The family expressed profound gratitude for Summerfield’s selflessness. Her husband, Matthew, stated, “Everyone knows what’s going on in the world at the moment, it’s a horrible place at times, but it really does give you hope that there is kindness in the world. We’ll never, ever be able to repay Gary and the family for what they’ve done.”
Davey’s 17-year-old son, Brandon, noted that his mother looked better than she had in a long while. “It’s amazing there’s still good people out there,” he said.
According to NHS Blood and Transplant, the average wait for a deceased donor kidney in the UK is two to three years, whereas a transplant from a living donor can occur within three to six months. Davey, who has a relatively rare blood type, had been in stage three kidney failure when she realized friends and family were not matches.
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