PSNI Chief Inspector Graham Dodds has donated his kidney to a seriously ill schoolboy - ‘the kidney is already working for Joshua which is fantastic’

The donor was PSNI Chief Inspector Graham Dodds who read about the plight of nine-year-old schoolboy Joshua Dolan’s life with kidney failure in a local newspaper.

“I am delighted to be able to help a lovely wee fella,” said Mr Dodds.

“It was awful that at the age of nine years he had kidney failure and had been on about 20 tablets a day - and had to travel about 500 miles a week from Enniskillen to Belfast for four hours of dialysis.

“What it has done to me is relatively small compared to what it gives him.

“It gives him his life back, getting back to school and stopping all the treatment at some stage.”

Reluctant to acknowledge his major donation he said: “I don’t think that I am in any way special but I am lucky because physically I am in the right position to do this.

“I was able to be supported by work to do this and there are other people who would not have that option either they are not well enough, their family don’t support it or they can’t get the time off work. I am lucky to be fit and

healthy with a supportive work and family. Everything aligned.”

He adds: “My kidney was taken out yesterday and Joshua got his transplant yesterday morning. I am in the City Hospital and he is in the Royal Victoria Hospital.

“We both went into hospital on Monday and I went for surgery yesterday morning which took about four hours and then recovery, so by the time I woke up Joshua had the kidney.

“Joshua had a bit of pain last night but the kidney is working which is the key thing. He is passing urine which is the key test and it is a good big healthy kidney according to the surgeon who was really pleased with the size and strength of my kidney that is helping Joshua.

“I feel really positive that he will do well and make a massive difference to him.”

Mr Dodds, a father-of-two, said prior to the operation “there was the big fear that it won’t work - but it has so it is absolutely fantastic”.

“It is nice to be able to do something and have such a positive result quickly.”

He added that he felt “a little sore today” because to perform the operation he had to be “pumped with gas/air to be able to move your intestines,spleen out of the way and your bowel”.

“It takes four hours to get a kidney removed because it is tricky surgery.

“And if there is someone out there considering it they should look into it whether they will go through with it for a family member or like mine an altruistic member (that is the term used because I didn’t know Joshua).

“The doctors have been fantastic and do everything to the highest level.

“It took six or seven months of testing to get this far.

“I had offered in 2018 to donate a kidney to a former police colleague who had been injured at work but that fell through when he recovered.

“But if there is someone out there thinking about this, please look into it.”

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