They say there’s no stronger bond than that between a father and his daughter.
Kirkburton’s Brian Firth is living proof.
The former Emley Moor Mast rigger has received a second chance at life after his daughter Amanda donated him one of her kidneys.
The 68-year-old fell ill a few years ago with chronic kidney disorder.
With his kidneys failings and the chances of a donor slim, 35-year-old Amanda stepped up and volunteered one of hers.
The father-daughter duo went under the knife for the life-saving surgery in Leeds last month.
It was a close call with Brian technically dying on the operating table at one point.
But a month on they are both recovering well with Brian’s prospects far better than before.
Brian could not put the emotional time into words but said it meant the world to him.
“It’s a big thing,” he simply said.
“I’ve known people who have been on dialysis for 10 to 12 years so I’m very lucky.
“I was very weak but now I’ve started walking again.”
Brian, who used to play rugby for St Joseph’s and Emley Moor, will need to be monitored for the rest of his life but no longer faces arduous trips to Seacroft hospital in Leeds for dialysis – a technique for cleaning patient’s blood.
Amanda said it had been an easy decision for her.
“He’s got my left kidney!” she said. “He was in and out of hospital, getting really sick.
“They said it was going downhill and he wouldn’t have been able to carry on, on dialysis.
“So I said, ‘He can have one of mine.’.
“Loads of people are born with only one kidney so I thought it would be fine.”
Amanda underwent almost a year of tests to check her compatibility with her dad and said the doctors and nurses had been great.
“They said it was OK to change my mind at anytime,” she said.
“But he would have been waiting for years.
“My dad was nervous but I was quite chilled about it – it felt like an episode of Holby City to me.
“There was a chance that something could go wrong but I knew they’d done loads of these before so I wasn’t really worried.
“I’m happy now he’s out of hospital. He’s had a rough time, three operations, two of which have encountered difficulties.
“He’s gone through the mill.”
