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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
As told to Rachel Williams

‘I wanted him to know he was my hero’: I met the kidney donor who saved my life

Ruby McGowan in British Airways uniform
A newfound love of travel has led to Ruby working as cabin crew for British Airways Photograph: PR

Lying on the operating table waiting for the anaesthetist to put me to sleep, I held my mum’s hand and heard her ask the surgeons to look after me.

By then, I wasn’t really living; I was just surviving. I’d once been sporty, bubbly and outgoing, but I’d been on dialysis for kidney failure for nine years – ever since my 10th birthday.

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