As trees and flowers burst into life around them, the spring countryside echoes the life-affirming message being presented by this close-knit family
For 18-year-old Blossom Martin has had her life saved twice thanks to kidney donations 15 years apart from her dad Nick and mum Sarnia. She says: “Being able to say that I’ve had two kidneys from two incredible parent donors is just amazing.”
A private, thoughtful trio, they are speaking out to stress the importance of organ donation and to encourage others to follow their lead. Blossom received a kidney from her dad when she was a toddler and another from her mum as a teen. She is now a university student at the prestigious Royal Academy of Music, where she is pursuing vocal studies.
READ MORE: What happens when you donate your body after death – as Coronation Street star has ‘no funeral’
She says: “I am really enjoying my course and just to be able to say that is such a privilege to me. There was a point when I wasn’t sure if I’d even be able to go, as I was applying for conservatoires just five months after having the transplant and I didn’t know if I was going to be physically strong enough.”
She is so impressive, articulate and looking extremely healthy, that it is hard to comprehend that Blossom has been so ill. She was diagnosed with a kidney problem when her mum was just 16 weeks pregnant.
Blossom says: “Mum went for a scan and the doctors told her they thought there was a problem with my kidneys. It came as a horrible shock to her and to my dad Nick. I was on dialysis from 12 days old and stayed in hospital for three months. Once I came home, Mum continued the dialysis for me every day.”
The doctors told Sarnia, 51, and Nick, 55, a recruitment director, that Blossom would need a kidney transplant and discussed with them the possibility of donating an organ. Fortunately, tests showed they were both matches for their daughter.
Blossom says: “My dad went on to have more tests to check he was fit and healthy and the transplant went ahead when I was 19 months old.” She was in London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital, while her dad was nearby at Guy’s Hospital. Blossom says: “I made a good recovery, and enjoyed all that life had to offer. I got through school, which was great. I got through my GCSEs.”
According to Kidney Research UK, kidney transplants last between 15 and 25 years on average, with kidneys from living donors tending to last longer than those from someone who has died.
There are more than 6,000 people in the UK waiting for a kidney transplant. A spokesman for the charity says: “It is unusual for both parents to be able to donate, and many people can spend years waiting on the transplant list. It is wonderful that this has worked well for Blossom.”
Her journey was not without its difficulties. After a bout of Covid, Blossom’s health started to fail. She says: “I was 16 and I’d had Covid a few months before and the doctor said ‘You need to come in for some further tests because your blood results really aren’t looking good’.
“My toxin levels had risen so much and it kept getting worse and worse, so towards the end I was feeling quite sick in myself. It got to the point where the doctors said, ‘You are going to have to have another transplant’. So I had my second one in July 2023.”
Turning to her mum, she recalls: You always knew that you were suitable one way or another, so it was only ever a matter of time before you stepped in.” Sarnia knew from those earlier tests that she was a match. Blossom says: “Mum never hesitated, she said yes straight away.
“She had three months of testing to check she was fit and well enough for the transplant, which thankfully she was, so it went ahead. When I woke up, the doctors told me the transplant had gone well and that mum was OK, which was all I needed to hear. She came to visit me the following day and we had a hug, although we were both a bit sore.
“I was so thankful that she had done it for me, just like Dad had.” Sarnia, who works at a local school, says: “It was such an emotional moment after the transplant when we saw each other for the first time in the hospital.
“It’s a very special feeling, knowing that you have saved someone’s life, let alone your own child’s. To see her at uni now, making the most of life, is the best feeling.” And donating turned out to have an impact on Nick’s health. Through being a donor, he discovered he had prostate cancer.
Thankfully, the disease was picked up in one of the annual health checks donors receive. He was diagnosed around two years after giving a kidney to Blossom, and has since made a full recovery. He says: “If I hadn’t been in the hospital system it might not have been detected.”
Soaking up the spring sunshine at their Buckinghamshire home, Blossom and her parents convey a message of hope and gratitude. Daughter and mother will be competing at the British Transplant Games in Oxford in July. Blossom, who will also sing at the games’ opening ceremony, says: “I think I just forget sometimes. I forget how special it is and just how much of a gift of life it’s been.”
Lynne Holt is a former transplant co-ordinator for the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and a donation ambassador for NHS blood and transplant and team manager for the British Transplant Games.
She says: “It’s wonderful that Blossom’s parents have given the gift of life to save their daughter like this. They created her life when she was born and then have given her the gift of life for the second time.
“It is amazing. For parents to both be a match like this and to each give a kidney 15 years apart is incredibly rare. It’s allowed her to live a full life and follow her dreams.”
For further information about organ donation see organdonation.nhs.uk
READ MORE: M&S shopper shows how you can make Easter treats bundle for under £20