A father of two is travelling from Brighton to Australia for a transplant after his best friend was a near perfect match and volunteered to donate his kidney to save him from a silent killer disease.
Andrew Lambropoulos, 46, will travel 10,500 miles for the surgery, with his new kidney donated by his best friend, David Rogowski, 39. Rogowski was a groomsman at Lambropoulos' wedding and said he was simply “answering the call of friendship.”
Andrew lives in Brighton with his wife Lisa, 40, and their two children, Jack, five, and Florence, one, but tests have revealed that he has lost more than 80% of his kidney function and he is due to fly to Melbourne next month.
David quickly volunteered to donate one of his organs, but the chances of a match were “very slim”, he said.
As it turned out, not only did the pair have the same blood type, but their tissues were a close match and David's kidney was in “incredible” condition.
“I picked the right guy, right?” Andrew told PA Real Life.
“He has three kids and a beautiful wife, so my first thought was, I'm not going to uproot his whole family when he's doing something for me.”
Andrew has always loved sports, especially cricket and Australian rules football, and even managed to discover the British team, the Sussex Swans.
In 2007, Andrew, who his friends called Rambo, decided to play in a football game despite not feeling too well after taking painkillers to give him an energy boost.
After the match, he began experiencing “chest pains” and collapsed two weeks later while drinking water at a friend's party.
“They rushed me to the hospital and found that my heart rate was reaching 270 to 280 beats per minute,” he said.
“I ended up having a bad chest infection and that's when I discovered my kidney numbers were below normal.”
Your kidney numbers are calculated based on two medical tests that measure how well your kidneys are filtering your blood.
Then two years ago, Andrew went for a routine check-up and was told his kidneys were “significantly deteriorating” and only functioning at around 20% of normal capacity.
“Since then, I've been in and out of hospital every few months to monitor my condition,” he continued.
“I also had blood tests every few weeks for peace of mind – to know my numbers and see how I was doing.”
Then, in August last year, a scan found that Andrew's kidney function had declined again, this time to around 14 per cent.
“Their donations have dropped off a lot, so they've started stepping up their search for donors,” he said.
“It's literally called the silent killer because you probably won't feel it much unless you get some other test done or find it by chance.”
Andrew considered applying for a kidney transplant in England through the UK Living Kidney Sharing Scheme, but the NHS said the average waiting time was two to three years.
Knowing that Andrew was hesitant to ask for help, his wife Lisa posted a “heartfelt message” on social media saying she was “actively searching for a donor.”
At this moment, David, who was a groomsman at Andrew's wedding, stepped up to save his best friend's life.
“He knew the whole situation and in his typical manner said, 'Yeah, I'll do it, this is it.'”
“We were all skeptical and thought, 'Oh, that's great, David, your heart is in the right place, but it's unlikely that everything will line up.'
“We then found out he had the same blood type, a good tissue match and his kidney function was incredibly good.”
The pair met playing Australian rules football 20 years ago and have remained best friends ever since.
“We hit it off from day one. He always had a kind heart,” Andrew said.
“We have been a family since the beginning and there have been many moments where he has supported me.
“He's a great guy. I'm very lucky.”
Andrew doesn't want to go into the details of what happens during the procedure, but says he's heard “there are a lot of success stories.”
According to the NHS, between 40,000 and 45,000 people die prematurely from chronic kidney disease each year in the UK.
David, who lives in Melbourne with his wife Greer and their three children, saw Lisa's social media post and didn't hesitate to volunteer to donate his organs.
“He never let us know how serious it was,” David said.
“I met him last November and he just shrugged and said, 'Yeah, I'm fine. I just watch what I eat and I'm fine.'”
As soon as David found out they were looking for someone with type O blood, he went to get tested.
“If I didn't, I wouldn't be able to look at myself in the mirror,” he said.
“I’m so happy to make small sacrifices to have him in our lives.
“I test friendships and just hope my buddies answer the phone. All I do is answer the phone.”
The chances of finding a compatible donor are high between parents and children or siblings, but not between “best friends.”
“So I just did everything I could with this and thought that if I continued to meet the requirements I could move on to the next stage, and that's how I'm here now,” David said.
“Actually, I was given the all-clear a few weeks ago.
“I couldn't believe it.
“I’ve never been a religious person, but we’re best friends and given the fact that we’re both type O positive and match four out of six tissues, our family couldn’t be any closer.
“I'm not a small person – I'm 6'2″ and weigh 110kg – but tests show my kidney function is incredibly low. What are the chances?”
Andrew has booked a flight to Australia, via Bangkok, for October 2 and hopes to return to the UK by March next year.
“We make sure all the numbers match up again and then we go ahead and do the operation,” Andrew said.
“We hope to do that before the Christmas season.”
During this time Andrew, a property inspector at Brighton Marina, will be unavailable for work.
His best friend Kevin Finn has set up a GoFundMe page to help with Andrew's living expenses while he recovers in Australia, and has already raised £21,370. [41,820 AUS dollars].
“He knew I probably wouldn't agree and he took it upon himself,” Andrew said.
“I'm incredibly grateful, but also a little embarrassed and humbled.
“I know how hard it is to give money to someone else that you can spend on your family.
“And knowing that they're helping my family out is heartwarming and I'm really grateful.”
Any surplus money will be donated to support doctors and nurses at Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital.
To support Andrew and his family, please visit: www.gofundme.com/f/andrew-rambo-lambropoulos
