Rob

Rob was in church today. He's the bloke getting the church website up and running, and he helps out at the youth club. He's about 32, slightly built and quietly spoken. He turned up this morning sporting a new beard and two new kidneys.

His own failed him in his early teens, since when he has had dialysis twice a week. He's been catheterised for all this time. He has lived with almost constant pain, and been strenuously advised against taking painkillers, as they would mask symptoms of other, serious conditions. Death has, on a number of occasions, been uncomfortably close to claiming him.

My understanding is, that for each kidney a hospital acquires, they elect two potential recipients. Of course the closest match gets first dibs, but in the event of, say, even a slight cold, then there's a backup recipient. On the day of the operation, all three others disqualified themselves, and Rob was given both kidneys. Apparently he's set some sort of record for shortest stay in hospital. Five days does seem pretty short.

And now, his biggest concern is that, often and often through the day, he has to stop what he's doing and pee.

I don't know the gender or how the donor died, but spare a thought for the parents of that two-year-old, who cared enough to make the death of their child mean life for someone else's.