Sue Townsend undergoes life-saving kidney transplant

From The Sunday Times
December 27, 2009

The author had the operation after her son gave up one of his organs.
Sue Townsend undergoes life-saving kidney transplant

Sue Townsend's body initially rejected the kidney donated by her son Sean

As Christmas presents go, it is even beyond the vivid imagination of Adrian Mole.

Sue Townsend, the best-selling author who created the aspiring teenage nerd, has received a life-saving kidney transplant thanks to her son, Sean, who donated the organ.

Townsend discloses for the first time today how the gruelling eight-hour operation has given her new hope after having to endure regular dialysis for the past two years.

The transplant, however, was not without complications. Townsend’s body initially rejected the donor kidney and a subsequent infection forced the 63-year-old author to return to hospital 17 times in the space of a week. Sean, the eldest of Townsend’s four children, volunteered to go under the knife when his mother’s two “dud” kidneys were on the brink of failure because of her long-term diabetes. She had been on a waiting list for a transplant for two years, but no other suitable donor emerged.