Saved by mum and dad's kidneys... 15 years apart

AS trees and flowers burst into life around them, the spring country-side echoes the life-affirming message being presented by this close-knit family.

- BY LUCY LAING

For 18-year-old Blossom Martin has had her life saved twice thanks to kidney donations 15 years apart from her dad Nick and mum Sarnia.

She says: "Being able to say that I've had two kidneys from two incredible parent donors is just amazing."

A private, thoughtful trio, they are speaking out to stress the importance of organ donation and to encourage others to follow their lead. Blossom received a kidney from her dad when she was a toddler and another from her mum as a teen.

She is now a university student at the prestigious Royal Academy of Music, where she is pursuing vocal studies.

She says: "I am really enjoying my course and just to be able to say that is such a privilege to me.

"There was a point when I wasn't sure if I'd even be able to go, as I was applying for conservatoires just five months after having the transplant and I didn't know if I was going to be physically strong enough."

She is so impressive, articulate and looking extremely healthy, that it is hard to comprehend that Blossom has been so ill.

She was diagnosed with a kidney problem when her mum was just 16 weeks' pregnant.

Blossom says: "Mum went for a scan and the doctors told her they thought there was a problem with my kidneys.

"It came as a horrible shock to her and to my dad Nick. I was on dialysis from 12 days old and stayed in hospital for three months.

"Once I came home, Mum continued the dialysis for me every day."

The doctors told Sarnia, 51, and Nick. 55, a recruitment director, that Blossom would need a kidney transplant and discussed with them the possibility of donating an organ.