Fit and healthy Scot bed-bound after kidney ballooned due to rare illness

A fit and healthy man is desperately pleading for a kidney donor after being left bed-bound due to a rare illness.

Tom Plenderleath, from Canonmills in Edinburgh, discovered at the age of 12 that he suffered from Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD). It was the same condition that led to his father, Colin, requiring a kidney transplant - but it wasn't until recently that the 42-year-old’s life became turned upside down by the disease.

Tom previously became his father’s primary carer before he was able to make a recovery after accessing a transplant. The E-commerce boss was then able to pursue a career in business and he described himself as being a social, active and energetic person.

However, six months ago his PKD began to have a debilitating effect as one of his kidneys grew so large that it began to impact other organs. Tom, who had moved to Thailand where he met his partner Lita, has now been forced to move back to Edinburgh and has been placed on a three year waiting list for a deceased donor.

Speaking to Edinburgh Live, Tom said: “My grandad had PKD and it has passed down the line as it is a hereditary condition. PKD can lead to your kidney growing cysts and growing in size before it begins to suffocate your other internal organs.

“It did not impact me until my mid-30s but it became gradually worse and in the last six months it has flipped my life 180. They will have to remove one of my native kidneys as they are huge and to make way for a potential transplant.

“Before my health turned I would be going to the gym four or five times a week but now I can barely walk without feeling dizzy and breathless - I just feel crap all the time. Fatigue has really set in and there is pressure being placed on my other organs due to the size of my kidneys. I’m unable to really sleep at night and suffer from pain underneath my ribs as well as digestive problems.”

Tom has seen his life marred with personal tragedy, as he became his father’s primary carer two years after his mother, Patricia, died of soft tissue cancer aged 38. Tom later lost his older brother, Jack, to a rare heart condition when his sibling was just 34 years old.

He is now issuing a desperate plea for a live kidney donor to come forward and allow him to get back to leading a normal life.

He added: “My condition is not necessarily a death sentence but it completely reduces your standard of living. Without a transplant I would have to go to hospital three times a week for dialysis for the rest of my life.

“But the alternative and much preferred route is a kidney transplant. The current wait for a deceased donor is around three years and has a higher risk of complications compared to a living donor.

“The preferred option is by far a living donor, which if well matched, can have a higher success rate, and will last for longer statistically. It can be planned ahead of time. Ideally this would be from a family member but this is not an option for me.

“My cousin Neil underwent all the tests but sadly he was not a match. A transplant would give me the opportunity to get my life back, a second chance at life. I want to be active again and plan a family in the future. At the moment I am just so physically and mentally drained as well as scared of what the future may hold.”

Tom says that he hopes to become an advocate for PKD after he is back on his feet and he has argued that the UK should adopt a microsite system like that used in America.

Those requiring a kidney transplant in the States can upload all of their details to a portal and those willing to donate a kidney can read their story and find out if they are a match.

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