A reality TV star today reveals how she saved her ex-lover’s life by donating one of her kidneys.
Marilyse Corrigan lived with jeweller Shaun Bell for eight years and had two children with him before they split in 2012.
The personal trainer went on to appear in The Only Way Is Essex before going on E4’s Married at First Sight – tying the knot with fellow contestant Franky Spencer on last year’s series.
But Marilyse, 38, stayed friends with 40-year-old Shaun after he moved out of the family home when they drifted apart.
And when he told her he needed an urgent transplant she didn’t think twice about donating to save the father of their sons Josh, 13, and Callum, 16.
Although Marilyse wasn’t a match for him, she was able to donate to another sufferer as part of a scheme that would see Shaun receive a kidney from another living donor in return.
Now in a joint interview marking World Kidney Day, Shaun said: “I am so indebted to Marilyse. She has given me the opportunity to live a normal life. It was such a kind thing to do.”
Marilyse told how they both knew Shaun might need a transplant one day while they were together. He had been diagnosed with polycystic kidneys years earlier.
“I’d told him then I would put myself forward for tests if it came to needing a donor,” said Marilyse. “But we split and it was only when he went on dialysis it proper hit me how ill he was. I’d lost my dad at 16 and didn’t want the same to happen to the boys. I felt it was my duty to step in. He is my kids’ father – they love him like they love me.
“Also, I’d caught Josh on Google looking to see if he was old enough to donate one of his little organs. That really got to me too.”
Shaun’s condition had started to deteriorate in 2019, and doctors warned him his kidneys were ‘totally gone’. He was put on dialysis and joined the donor list.
In September that year, Marilyse, of Beverley, East Yorks, contacted doctors to see if she could help her ex-partner.
“I surprised him by handing over the forms I’d filled in,” she explained. “He really choked up. The kids messaged me later and said, ‘why is Daddy crying?’”
Shaun said: “I was bowled over. I was resigned to having to wait for a death donor so it was great Marilyse did what she did.” Last autumn, she finally got a call to say a match for Shaun had been found.
“I never once thought ‘what am I doing?’,” she said. “When the kids got home from school that day I rang Shaun to tell him the good news. When the kids heard, they cried with happiness.”
On November 9, Callum’s 16th birthday, Marilyse and Shaun went to Leeds General Infirmary to have their joint operations. “I was nervous, but I knew it was the right thing to do,” said Marilyse.
“I was in agony afterwards. I felt like I ‘d been hit by a bus, but it was nothing given what I was doing for Shaun.” Four months on, both are feeling great with Shaun relieved he is no longer dependent on dialysis. “It feels I’ve been given a new lease of life,” he said.
Marilyse has split up with TV show husband Franky. But she and Shaun, who are both single, say while the kidney donation has made them even stronger as co-parents, there is no chance of a reconciliation. “We have a good relationship,” said Marilyse.
“We’re friends. Shaun will always be family. He is my kids’ dad.”
- To find out more about becoming a Living Kidney Donor visit NHS Organ Donation here
