A living donor could give Uqbah the best chance of a successful transplant (Image: Ummarah Irshad)
A desperate mum has issued a heartbreaking appeal for a stranger to save her 16-year-old daughter’s life by donating a kidney. Teenager Uqbah Muhammad has been living with end-stage kidney failure for three years and spends hours hooked up to a dialysis machine, three times a week. The treatment has taken a heavy toll and she is on her fourth Permcath line — a sterile tube inserted through the chest to remove and return blood.
Doctors have warned Uqbah’s mum, Ummarah, 39, that this may be the last viable access point. Ummarah’s older daughter, Haniah, tragically died of a brain tumour in 2012 aged just four. She said: “I can’t even imagine going through this with Uqbah. She is my whole universe. If you feel you could consider being tested as a living kidney donor, please come forward.
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“And if you cannot donate, I am requesting you with a mother’s whole heart — please help us reach the person who can save her.”
Uqbah, of Bradford in West Yorks, was born with severe learning difficulties and autism and needed tube feeding from a young age.
She started falling unwell regularly around the time she finished primary school, vomiting and becoming pale and weak.
Tests revealed Uqbah was suffering from chronic kidney disease with just 25% function. She began having dialysis when it fell to 7%.
The life-saving procedure uses a machine to filter waste products and excess fluid from her blood over four hours.
She sleeps for up to 15 hours after each session as the gruelling treatment leaves her drained, unable to even walk up the stairs.
Uqbah, who can only attend school for a couple of hours twice a week, is on the NHS waiting list and has received three transplant offers.
However, doctors advised Ummarah to turn them down as they were from elderly patients or people with health conditions such as diabetes, increasing the risk of problems.
Most people are born with two functioning kidneys and can live normal, healthy lives with just one. Transplants from living donors are more likely to be successful than those from deceased donors.
Uqbah as a baby and smiling through her tough treatment (Image: Ummarah Irshad)
Uqbah’s parents were tested but were not suitable matches. Single mum Ummarah looked into the possibility of a chain donation, where she would donate to a stranger in exchange for someone else donating to her daughter. Tests showed she was not able to donate.
More than 1,000 people in the UK have donated a kidney to someone they do not know, in a process known as non-directed altruistic living kidney donation.
Ummarah is now appealing for good samaritans across the UK to come forward if they would be willing to help Uqbah.
A living donor contacted the family three years ago following a local appeal. Ummarah said: “Unfortunately, he wasn’t a match in the very final stages. That was heartbreaking for me and for him, because he was very keen.”
Uqbah’s donor must have the blood group O, positive or negative. They would be asked to fill out a health questionnaire to ensure they do not have any health conditions that rule them out, followed by further tests including tissue typing.
If Uqbah’s access line for dialysis fails and doctors cannot fit another, she may be forced to accept a poor quality emergency match with a high risk of rejection.
Ummarah added: “Dialysis is sustaining her life but it is steadily taking her strength, her energy and her independence.
“If I was a match, I’d be the first in line to donate. I am aware that it’s a big ask, a big sacrifice, but I have no other choice.”
The life-saving dialysis is taking a heavy toll on Uqbah’s body (Image: Ummarah Irshad)
Ummarah described her daughter as a “social butterfly” with a contagious smile who brings joy to others during her hospital visits.
She said: “Even when she is unwell, even when she is exhausted, even when she feels sick, she gives light so freely. Right now, she needs someone to give that light back to her.”
The devoted mum hopes her daughter will one day be able to enjoy holidays and swimming sessions again and “have a normal life”.
Ummarah added: “Please share this appeal far and wide. Share it beyond your family, beyond your friends, beyond your community. Share it nationally.
“Because somewhere in this country is the person who can save my daughter’s life. We have not found them yet. But they are out there.”
For more information, please email Ummarah at [email protected] and Uqbah’s transplant coordinator at [email protected].
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