A Shifnal student whose kidneys failed when he was 12 is set to represent Great Britain in the World Transplant Games in Australia in August.
Seventeen-year-old Matthew Lynch of Idsall School will compete in the tennis and table tennis events in Brisbane against participants from 50 countries. Matthew and his opponents are living proof that organ donations can succeed and that people can go on to lead active, sporty lives.
Matthew spent two gruelling years on dialysis after developing an autoimmune disease which made his own body’s defences attack his kidneys. His parents were horrified when the once-healthy eight-year-old suffered a rare side-effect from a routine throat infection.
They were forced to watch Matthew gradually lose his kidney function, until at the age of 12 dialysis became essential for his survival. Matthew then had to join a waiting list for a kidney transplant – his only long-term hope of survival.
The operation was carried out at Birmingham Children’s Hospital after a kidney from a road crash victim became available. It was a donation for which Matthew and his parents Alison and Mike Lynch will be eternally grateful.
Matthew has now become a first rate tennis player, due in part to the tuition of his tennis coach dad. He jumped at the chance to represent his country in the World Transplant Games after taking part in the British Transplant Games for the past three years.
Matthew will play singles in the children’s tennis event and doubles in the adult tennis competition along with heart transplant patient Paul Bill from Birmingham.
“I was really excited when I heard I had been chosen to represent my country,” said Matthew. “The transplant has really changed my life and I am going to make the most of it.”
Alison said she and Mike were “very, very grateful” to the donor of Matthew’s kidney and she hoped that Matthew’s story would raise awareness of the need for more people to join the donor register.
“We are so happy that something positive has come out of all of this,” she said. “Matthew has to take immunosuppressant drugs every day but otherwise his life is quite normal.”
Matthew is now fundraising for his trip-of-a-lifetime and has a website for donations at www.justgiving.com/mattlynch
Idsall School is holding a non-uniform day today to boost funds for the trip.