Scottish Independent Media

By Claire Elliot

BRAVE dad Paul Mickleburgh has survived a string of heart attacks, cancer, and had four kidney transplants.

 Now he is looking forward to the 18th and 21st birthdays of the sons he thought he would never have.
 

The 50-year-old, who also has a daughter, suffered complete renal failure when he was 19 and feared he would be dead within 10 years of marrying wife Joyce.
 

But as the couple head towards their 25th wedding anniversary next year, Mr Mickleburgh, of Aberdeen, said he owed his life and his children’s lives to the people who donated their organs.
 

He is now dependent on renal dialysis after all four donor kidneys failed after just a few years.
 

But he said: “I would have been dead a long time ago without the transplants.
 

“There is no way I would have coped on the dialysis machine for 30 years straight without a break. And the kids would certainly never have been born.
 

“It was only after the second transplant that we decided to start a family and it was the best thing that ever happened to me.
 

“I am very grateful and I do appreciate it. I didn’t think I’d get this long .”
 

The father-of-three has been waiting 11 years for a fifth transplant.
 

In that time he has been called twice to say there is a kidney available for him.

But on both occasions his hopes were quickly dashed as there were a fault with the organs.
 

Doctors have now told him that his body is no longer able to cope with the procedure.
 

He has been taken off the transplant list and will spend the rest of his life on dialysis.
 

Mr Mickleburgh said: “It’s not the best. But there is nothing I can do about it. If I dwelled on it too much I wouldn’t be alive. You just learn to cope with it.”
 

Before he fell ill he played football and was in the Territorial Army Royal Engineers.
 

The long-term affects of being linked to a dialysis machine for fives hours three days a week, however, have started to take its toll on his body.

He gets breathless just walking from room to room and is often up in pain at night..
 

And last year Mr Mickleburgh suffered 10 heart attacks in 10 days, resulting from the strain prolonged renal treatment can have on the organs.
 

He also had a cancer growth removed from his arm in 1996.
 

But Mr Mickleburgh, who is a member of Grampian Radio Car Club, said he had been very “fortunate”.
 

Although the donor kidneys only lasted a short time each, he said it gave him a break from being on dialysis.
 

He is now looking forward to watching his youngest son, Cameron, turn 18 next week, and his eldest, Wayne, celebrate his 21st birthday next month.
 

And following his experience, Mr Mickleburgh, who also has a daughter Kelsey, 20, believes it is time an organ donation opt-out system was introduced in an effort to save more lives
 

“We don’t want to force a person to do it, they should have a choice.
 

“But we should have an opt-out system,” he said.
 

Mr Mickleburgh had his first transplant in 1980 but it had to be removed after six months when he suffered an infection and pneumonia.
 

He received his second kidney three years later. But after two years, his body rejected it and it also had to be removed.
 

His third transplant in 1988 lasted for three years.
 

He then had his final transplant in 1993, which worked for five years.
 

His wife Joyce, 47, a self-employed dog groomer, said: “It‘s been hard and he‘s had to cope with a lot. But the kids have been good for him. He’s a fighter.
 

“It’s our 25th wedding anniversary next year and he really thought he would be dead within 10 years of our marriage.”