Be kind to each other, we are told. But some random acts of kindness go way beyond what we imagine, like offering a kidney to a person who is neither a family member nor a close friend. Five years ago this amazing act of altruism of one woman gave a new lease of life to another.
Mocha. It was Lianne Bateman’s morning fix on her way to work, and Frankie Egglestone, a part-time barista at her favourite café, always brewed an excellent one. To Frankie, Lianne was just a person off the street who later became a regular customer she saw a few times a week.
One day in 2013 Lianne noticed a bandage with a cannula sticking out of Frankie’s blouse. Being a dental hygienist her medical curiosity was piqued, and after a while she asked what this was for. Frankie explained that the tube in her chest was a permacath, incidentally adding that she had kidney failure and was on dialysis.
AN ASTOUNDING OFFER
A few weeks later their relationship changed in an unexpected way. When Frankie served her a mocha and eggs Benedict, Lianne suddenly blurted out: “What have I got to do to give you a kidney? I have two good ones.” Frankie’s jaw dropped. “I couldn’t believe it. It meant winning a new life to me.”
Frankie, 29 at the time and solo mum to a seven-year-old daughter, was born with one kidney, which failed when she was five. A year later she received her mother’s kidney. It lasted almost 19 years before it also failed.
For Lianne this spur-of-the-moment offer came as a surprise to herself too. “I hadn’t planned it and hadn’t discussed becoming a live donor with anybody beforehand.” But after she had uttered these words from somewhere deep inside her, they felt totally right. “All I wanted was for Frankie to live for as long as possible and be able to see her daughter grow up.”
SHATTERED HOPES
However, things didn’t pan out initially. Because of her medical history, doctors had told Frankie that her chances of finding a perfect match were only 10 percent. In the past, nine people had already offered to donate a kidney, but testing revealed none were compatible. Lianne and Frankie’s crossmatch came back as a no-go too.
Frankie has been in and out of hospital more times than she prefers to remember. For five years her life had been defined by work during the day and haemodialysis in the evenings at home. “But I was getting sicker and sicker.”
THREE YEARS FROM OFFER TO OPERATION
With Frankie’s kidney function significantly worsening things started looking bleak. “Without a transplant, I was given between 18 months and two years to live,” Frankie remembers. In November 2015, in a final attempt to find a solution, her nephrologist went back through all her 10 crossmatches and noticed that Lianne’s was the closest. “Her offer still stood, so in March the following year we were re-tested and got the thumbs-up.” But they were not the same blood type, so it was going to be an ‘ABO incompatible’ transplant. After seemingly endless courses of chemotherapy, plasmapheresis to ensure any remaining antibodies were removed from Frankie’s blood, ongoing dialysis and a final crossmatching, on 5 October 2016 the transplant took place at Auckland Hospital.
DIFFERENT POST-OP DEVELOPMENTS
Lianne was in hospital for only three days. “We were technically in different wards, but practically right next door. We would meet in the corridor, shuffling along in hospital gowns and dragging our saline drips behind us.” Afterwards she stayed in a nearby hotel for less than a week. Having had surgeries before, she wasn’t particularly anxious. “It was more of an excitement. And with lots of drugs the post-op pain was bearable.” Years on, her remaining kidney has grown slightly in size and works at the capacity of two healthy kidneys.
Frankie’s new kidney had a rough start. “Four months after the transplant I battled major rejection and spent three months in hospital again.” But five years on she feels great. She is on immune suppressants for the rest of her life. “About a handful of pills, both day and night,” she remarks matter-of-factly. Every three months she sees her kidney specialist and has blood tests every month.
A NEW KIDNEY AND A NEW LIFE
In 2020 Frankie moved to Auckland to start fresh. Her teenage daughter lives with her dad in Tauranga. Frankie is studying for a Bachelor of Health Science majoring in psychology at Massey University and works as a carer for an 11-year-old autistic boy who is non-verbal. Living on her own as an immune-suppressed person, things are difficult. “Covid has affected my ability to do anything. I have masks and hand sanitiser on me at all times.”
Lianne and Frankie are kidney sisters – a special relationship for life, about giving life without expecting anything in return. “I still get blown away that somebody who was once a regular customer ended up saving my life,” says Frankie. “We have a bond that many people will never understand: she’s like the big sister I never had.” To commemorate the transplant they both got a matching tattoo on their bellies.