Kidney transplant patient turned nurse on a mission to give back

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James standing in dialysis ward holding 3D printed kidney
Nurse James in the same ward he received dialysis as a patient nearly 20 years ago

James is an incredibly hardworking nurse at PA Hospital, but few people know the courageous and heartwarming story behind his compassion.

Every day when he clocks into work, he’s also stepping back into the same hospital where his childhood best friend gave him a second chance at life nearly 20 years ago.

After being diagnosed with a renal condition at a young age, his health took a turn for the worse shortly after his 18th birthday. Dialysis was needed.

“I tried to hide it from my friends because I didn’t want to be a burden to them. Until one day I went to see a good friend of mine and she asked me why I hadn’t been coming out as much,” said James.

He shared his diagnosis, and Amanda didn’t hesitate with her generous offer after realising they were the same blood group.

“She said, ‘I’ll give you one of my kidneys,’ and I told her to take the weekend to think about it.”

“On Monday morning I got a phone call from the transplant team at the PA Hospital saying Amanda was there wanting to give me a kidney.”

The pair underwent the transplant three months before James turned 21.

“My donor is like a sister to me, and I thank her every day for giving me the second chance at life.”

While James’ immense gratitude towards Amanda and her family hasn’t wavered, what did change post-transplant was his choice of career.

“I always joked with my parents that I wanted nothing to do with hospitals after spending so much time in hospital. At the time of the transplant, I was finishing my business degree majoring in marketing.

“But I was just so amazed with all the nursing staff at PA Hospital and realised I wanted to give something back. I wanted to become a nurse and treat others with the same kindness that I was given.”

The goal went one step further than just the profession itself with James striving to make his already special connection to PA Hospital, even more significant.

He’s now been a nurse at PAH since 2016 and is sharing his remarkable story for DonateLife Week.

“Having lived on the other side of it, I want to encourage people to have the conversation with their family and register as organ and tissue donor.

“Organ donation really is giving someone else a second chance at life.”

It takes only one minute to register on the Australian Organ Donor Register, visit www.donatelife.gov.au