Parents donate kidneys to children (2003)

A mother and father are giving their son and daughter the gift of normal life by each donating a kidney to them.

Peter Alvey, 29, and his sister Elizabeth Pearson, 22, require life-saving transplants after suffering years of kidney problems, but were warned that it could take years to find suitable donors.

To their amazement however, their parents were both found to be perfect matches. Mary Alvey, 52, will donate to Peter, who undergoes dialysis at the hospital, Notts. Her husband, Des, 55, is giving a kidney to Elizabeth, who requires dialysis four times every day.

Mrs Alvey said: "In the end it was not a hard decision to make. They are our children, and if it means that we can help and offer them the chance of a more normal life then that is what we will do."

Peter and Elizabeth said: "We cannot thank my parents enough. We are so grateful to our parents."

A spokesman for the Kings Mill Kidney Patients' Association said: "It is a wonderful gesture by Des and Mary. We have known Peter and Elizabeth for a while and it is wonderful to think that they are getting the chance of leading a normal life."

一对父母将各自捐出一个肾给自己的一双儿女，把"常人生活"作为最好的礼物送给孩子们。

他们的这对子女分别是29岁的彼得·阿尔维和22岁的伊丽莎白·皮尔逊，他们长年忍受着肾病的折磨，急切地等待移植手术来换肾救命。但是要得到合适的肾却不是那么容易的事，往往一等就要好几年。

令人惊奇的是，他们的父母竟然就拥有他们所需要的完全相符的肾。52岁的母亲玛丽·阿尔维将把肾捐给了每天都得在医院做透析的儿子彼得，而55岁的父亲德则把肾给了伊丽莎白，她平均每天要做四次透析。

母亲玛丽说："做这样的决定并不难。他们是我们的孩子，只要能让他们过上正常人的生活，能为他们做的我们都会去做。"

孩子们表示："我们无法对父母的感激。只能说我们感激不尽。"

皇家磨坊肾病患者协会的一位发言人说："玛丽和德这样做真是了不起。我们认识彼得和伊丽莎白已经些时候了，想到他们很快就能过上正常的生活，真替他们高兴。"