A NURSE who will donate her kidney to her son days after he becomes a teenager says: "I'll finally be able to make him healthy.”

On April 11, four days after Kyle Aitken turns 13, surgeons at Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, will remove one of his mum Caryn’s kidneys and transplant it into her son’s body.

Kyle, 12, from Bellshill, who was was the face of our Opt for Life organ donation campaign, was born with a serious kidney problem, PUV, which affects just one in 36,000 births in the West of Scotland, each year and means urine can’t flow freely of the bladder.

His condition has deteriorated, since he first appeared on our pages. He had a kidney removed and is now relying on the other, which is barely functioning and takes around 14 different pills every day.

Without a kidney transplant, he was facing dialysis and an uncertain future.

Read more: More than 30,000 Scots pledge to save a life after death

The operation will mark the end of a three year wait to find out if she was a suitable match and to undergo the rigorous tests that are required to make sure she is healthy enough for the surgery.

She said: “Two weeks on Tuesday, I’ll finally be able to make him healthy.

“It’s been a long journey but it will be worth the wait.

“I’ll be in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and he’s be next door in the Children’s Hospital.

“I just can’t wait till it’s done now.The birthday celebrations can wait, it will just be about recovery."

Caryn re-trained as a nurse give something back to Yorkhill Hospital, which cared for Kyle as a child and now works at Wishaw General Hospital.

Six years ago Kyle was chosen to front our campaign for out opt-out transplant system, which means that everyone is automatically registered as an organ donor, unless they have registered an objection in their lifetime.

Read more: Victory for Evening Times campaign as government announces change in organ donor laws

Last year, the Scottish Government agreed to make the change, which is expected to lead to a rise in the number of organs available for life-saving transplants. The campaign has been nominated for a Scottish Press Award.

Caryn said: “I’ve kept every article that Kyle was in. It will be nice for him when he’s older.”

The government has pledged to take forward legislation by June, and if agreed by parliament, a new opt-out law should be in place in a year.  An awareness campaign will also be launched to educate the public about the changes.

The number of people with kidney failure is rising and is expected to continue rising as the population ages, further increasing the demand for donors.

More than 1000 people choose to donate an organ as a living donor in the UK each year and the number is increasing.

Of those, as much as 96% of people donate a kidney and 4% donate part of their liver.

Some medical conditions could prevent you from being a living donor such as uncontrolled high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, HIV, hepatitis or acute infections.

You can donate to a member of your family, a friend or even someone whom you do not know.

In Scotland, only people over 16 years of age can be legally considered as living kidney donors.

You are at no greater risk of developing kidney failure after donating than anyone in the general population.
Join the organ donor register at www.organdonationscotland.org/yes