Grateful Kim's heartfelt plea 'YOU CAN'T PUT A VALUE ON IT'

Blood and organ donors have kept the transplant survivor alive

- Kasia De Vydt-Jillings

Kim Hewson knows more than most what it's like to rely on the kindness of strangers.

Living with polycystic ovaries, kidneys and liver, she's had two organ transplants - and received life-saving blood products made from the donations of more than 30 people.

“Without them, I wouldn't be here,” shares Kim, 66, who was first diagnosed with polycystic kidneys 27 years ago.

The condition causes cysts to grow on the affected organs, eventually causing them to fail.

Dwindling energy and exhaustion doing everyday tasks was the first sign something wasn't right for Kim, who in 1998 was working in a factory and raising her two then-teenage children Toni and Shane.

“It gets worse and worse, until you can't even walk around the supermarket and it's time to go on dialysis,” she explains.

In 2002, with her kidneys failing, the Timaru mother began commuting to Christchurch, spending Monday through Friday on dialysis for up to six hours each day and returning home to her family for the weekend.

“Before you go on dialysis, you're feeling really crook,” says Kim. “On dialysis, I felt a lot better. Then I had to wait until a kidney became available.”

Without dialysis or a transplant, it can be fatal.