A DRUMRY man has said he was honoured to be able to give his friend the “gift of life” after her kidneys were on the brink of failure.

Josh Hall told the Post he couldn’t shake the feeling that he might have the solution to his friend Lois Denham’s problems after she discovered her kidney function had declined to just three percent in December.

The 29-year-old said it felt like “having an itch you can’t scratch” and he knew he wanted to do what he could to help.

Josh said: “I just couldn’t get rid of this feeling that I could be sitting here with the solution to Lois’s problems. Who am I to withhold that?

“When I started getting tested I kept thinking ‘at least if I’m ruled out I’ll get some peace’ and as it happened everything was a perfect match.

“I knew Lois was going through a lot with her kidneys and that she was quite ill.

“Organ donation had never crossed my mind before, I just consider it such a privilege and a huge honour to be able to do that for someone.”

Lois was diagnosed with Polycystic Kidney Disease (KPD) at the age of eight after her father was diagnosed with the same disease.

The 50-year-old from Paisley said over the years her kidney function began deteriorating to the point that there was a very real threat of dialysis on the horizon.

Lois said: “KPD basically means there’s multiple cysts on your kidneys and over the years I was monitored with check-ups and scans and subsequently in the last few years my kidney function declined because of it.

“The cysts, which are non-cancerous, grow on the kidney and then affect its ability to work properly. In October 2020 I was told my kidneys had deteriorated to 10% function so from there I was seen every month.

“I was very, very fortunate that I didn’t need dialysis as last December my kidney function had dropped to three percent and there was a risk of complete failure.

“It was quite out of the blue when Josh came to me and said he wanted to be considered to give a kidney.”

She added: “I was completely overwhelmed. It’s the gift of life.

“We kept saying to him right up until the day before the surgery that this isn’t like lending me something, you’re not getting this back when it’s done, it’s done and you don’t have to do this and he said ‘I’ve absolutely no doubt that I want to do this’.

“It was completely selfless and life changing.”

Both Lois and Josh are now on the road to recovery after their kidney transplant was successfully carried out at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital on January 17.

After the surgery Lois asked to be taken past Josh’s room to thank him “from the bottom of her heart” – it was a very emotional moment for the pair.

Lois added: “They pulled my bed up outside his door and he was sitting up in his bed and I just popped my head round the door and said ‘hello friend’ and he looked at me and asked if it had worked.

“I said thank you from the bottom of my heart and then we both ended up in tears.

“For me life goes back to as near normal as it can.

“I can get back to going out and seeing people, I’ll be able to go on holiday once I’m signed off.

“Josh has given me the gift of life and I will never take that for granted.”

Josh said: “Knowing what I know now if I could go back to when Lois first started having problems I wouldn’t have thought about it so much, I highly recommend it to anybody.

“I think it’s the closest a man can come to giving life – I would do it all over again.”