Overview
- NHS specialists identify Graham Sisson as the oldest person in Britain to make a direct kidney donation, and both he and recipient Ian Tonks have fully recovered.
- Manchester Royal Infirmary’s living donor team performed the transplant after about 11 months of medical tests to confirm it was safe for both men.
- Tonks had been on dialysis since 2018 after complications from an earlier transplant, and he had been told he had only months to live before Sisson volunteered.
- NHS Blood and Transplant recognized Sisson as a “Kidney for Life Hero,” honoring the donation and his role in raising awareness of living donation.
- The transplant ended years of strict fluid limits and machine-based treatment for Tonks, who says he has returned to everyday activities such as attending football and traveling.