Congratulations to the Australian and New Zealand Paired Kidney Exchange Program (ANZKX) for reaching 500 kidney transplants!
The ANZKX program matches pairs of incompatible kidney donors and recipients, often family or friends, with other incompatible pairs across Australia and New Zealand, known as paired kidney donation.
The ANZKX helps patients like Kellie, who was diagnosed with kidney failure and after two unsuccessful kidney transplants was on dialysis. Kellie and her husband Grant, who donated one of his kidneys to a stranger as he wasn’t a match to his wife, joined the ANZKZ program and after two years were matched in a chain of donors and recipients.
Speaking about life after their donation and transplant, Grant said: “We're looking forward to getting out there and living our best lives."
In Australia, the program began in 2011, initially as the Australian Kidney Exchange, and in a world-first, merged with the New Zealand Kidney Exchange in 2019 to create ANZKX to help increase transplantation numbers on both sides of the Tasman Sea.
You can read more about Kellie and Grant’s story at ABC Online.
Photo supplied (Kellie Ottaway via ABC Online)
