'I gave my sister a kidney. I don't know if I'll ever do a better thing'
This week saw the first three-way kidney transplant, in which living donors gave to a stranger in return for an organ for a loved one. Peter Martin, who donated a kidney to his sister, describes how it feelsFour years ago I gave my sister Paula a kidney. It was just before Christmas and I'm sure we exchanged books, or knitwear or something too, but the details of the gifts we wrapped remain sketchy. The kidney (her kidney, now) is doing fine work filtering impurities from her blood. I don't think she works it as hard as I did, so things have worked out well for both of them.When she was 21, Paula had an allergic reaction to penicillin that caused her immune system to attack her skin and kidneys. It began with pinprick sensations around her lower legs, and within two days both her ankles and knees had seized up....
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