A Dublin man is set to donate a kidney to his best friend, who is currently on dialysis three times a week.
Michael Doyle, 30, is from Lucan and he is hoping to donate his kidney to his best friend Thomas Foley, with a GoFundMe campaign also launched to help them reach their goal.
Speaking to Dublin Live, Michael explained that he and Thomas have grown up together and are best mates.
He said: "We grew up together in Lucan despite attending different schools. He has a great attitude and does not complain much but the situation has deteriorated over the last few years.
"He does dialysis three times weekly for four hours each time at present."
Michael said that the decision to donate his kidney to his pal was an easy decision, and that he would have been "devastated" if he wasn't a match for his best friend.
Michael said: "I think most people regardless of their initial thoughts, would donate to save someone's life if they really had to make that call.
"When I got the call, the coordinator told me I had a completely different blood group than I had thought, which was a surprise, and then she told me that the blood group and tissue tests were a very close match and the procedure can move to the next stage.
"I was really happy and I called Tom as soon as they hung up to break the great news."
According to Michael, he has recently completed health and psychological screening with an appointment scheduled to visit the nephrologist next week.
"After that I will meet the surgeon and a date will be scheduled hopefully."
Michael has also set up a GoFundMe to raise the cover of eight weeks' salary to cover his time off work post-op, as the HSE will not cover his salary to donate to the Irish Kidney Association.
He explained: "The Senior Medical Social Worker in Beaumont Hospital was very helpful and advised me to apply to the HSE for the Living Donor Reimbursement Scheme.
"I had heard stories from older colleagues at work saying donors they knew had to go into debt in order to donate so I was worried as I couldn’t afford to lose any of my salary with the cost of Dublin rent and everything else these days."
After Michael asked about whether his salary would be covered under the scheme, he was told that his salary would not be covered because he is a shift worker.
Michael said: "It is so frustrating that I paid € 25,000+ in tax alone last year (2021), and have been working over a decade, yet I can't get two months' salary paid to save a friend's life. This is why I decided to organize the GoFundMe so we could get the ball rolling ourselves!"
Michael said that the plan is raise two months' salary and withdraw the application to the Living Donor Reimbursement Scheme.
When asked about what will happen after the kidney transplant and his recovery time, Michael explained that recovery time "can vary greatly and it depends on the individual."
He said: "With the target reached I can pay all my bills and not worry about eviction for at least eight weeks while I recover.
"I hope I can live off whatever I can raise for as long as I need to post-op, and if everything goes well with no complications and I can get back to work sooner rather than later all excess will go to the Irish Kidney Association."
To donate to Michael's fundraiser click here
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