Kienna Presents Kidney Nurse With Donation

KIENNA PRESENTS KIDNEY NURSE WITH DONATION

PAUL THIRD

09:00 - 04 June 2004

A Former patient returned to Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital to make a donation to her nurse yesterday.

Six-year-old Kienna Cocker, from Aberdeen, and her father, Willie, visited paediatric renal liaison nurse Lynne Riach to hand over a cheque for £22,851 to be used by the hospital.

Kienna had a six-hour transplant operation in December after she was diagnosed with congenital nephrotic syndrome. The condition causes holes to form in the kidneys, leading to the loss of dangerous amounts of protein from the bloodstream.

In an effort to save his youngest daughter's life, Mr Cocker had his kidney removed during a four-hour operation at Glasgow's Western Infirmary, and donated it to Kienna.

Both father and daughter have recovered well from the procedure although Kienna still requires regular follow-up aftercare. Ms Riach's post was initially conceived and funded by charity Kidney Kids Scotland, and it offers her the chance to bring improved care to children in Grampian who suffer from renal disease.

She treats children in their own homes so that patients and their families do not have to face making hospital visits.

The manager of Kidney Kids Scotland Howard Lewis was delighted to be making another sizeable donation to the Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital's coffers. He said: "Kidney Kids Scotland was founded as a charitable trust in July 2000 with the specific aim of helping children with renal disease and their families.

"We have contributed over the past four years in excess of £260,000 to improve the service given to the children.

He added: "We have also given over £14,000 to individual families who have been financially disadvantaged by their child's renal illness."



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