The 100th Ni Kidney Donation Saves the Life of a 6-Year-Old Stranger

The 40-year-old woman from County Down became Northern Ireland's 100th person, donating her kidneys to strangers.

Aly Coyle saved a six-year-old British boy who he had never met by donating to help him have a successful life-saving kidney transplant in January.

The key achievement has been hailed as a groundbreaking moment in organ donation and was marked at a special reception at Stormont on Wednesday.

“It made me feel like I did something really worth it and I helped someone for a long time,” Ally said.

Donating kidneys to strangers was initially illegal in the UK until just before 2011.

Ally said the motivation for donating the kidneys is a friend who has been on dialysis and is still waiting for donors.

“In the beginning I took a test to see if I was in a match with him, but I wasn't, but if you're considering donating to one person, then you should be able to go with others. I could have done that for people like me.”

Aly said the whole process was very easy.

“It was so easy from start to finish. The team is incredible and you feel very cared for. I went back to 95% fitness for four weeks and climbed Cave Hill last weekend. ”

Speaking at Stormont's reception, Anne Page said she “don't look back on the day and time” that she donated.

She gave one of the kidneys to a man from London after discovering that his father-in-law and his best friend were both on kidney dialysis.

“My message to others is that this is extremely valuable and can save someone else’s life.

“When I received the first letter from a man, it was sad to hear what he had gone through, 11 years of dialysis, and it made me feel very humble.

“When he said thank you, you still shed tears over and over,” she added.

Ally said she has nephews the same age as the boy who received the kidneys.

“It really makes me feel better knowing I helped someone like nephew.

“When I was 60, my kidneys would go to college with him.”

Anne said the first donation of kidneys to strangers was intrigued by many.

“People were standing outside my door in the ward: “Is this a woman here?”

“It's great to realize that now there are 100 people who have done it.”

Health Minister Mike Nesbitt, who also attended the event, said, “I am happy to meet such altruistic people who have such a human sense.”

“It's great to say that our kidneys are world class because we spend so much time facing the challenges of how to make things better.

“We should have celebrated people like Anne and Ally, so they're preparing to help people who don't know the parts of their bodies, part of their organs.”

Aisling Courtney, a consultant who manages the Living Donation Transplant Program, said he encourages Anne and Ally to see them appear to “have made something so different in the world.”

“In Northern Ireland, we are a group of very altruistic people and I think the goal of the program is to make donations as easy as possible.”

“It's beautiful to see the early and late results of how you can get into with two healthy kidneys. Yes, there's a bit of pain and discomfort, but the recovery is quick.”