A WOMAN from the district with just nine per cent kidney function says a donation for a kidney transplant would make a perfect Christmas gift for her.

Alyson Symons faces an anxious wait over Christmas for a kidney transplant after an original transplant through her father David in January 2001.

The 36-year-old, of Moor Lane, Addingham, was put on the waiting list for a transplant on August 22 this year and says a donor would make her Christmas.

Miss Symons, who works part-time as a counter clerk at Otley Post Office, Nelson Street, first suffered from Henoch-Schonlein purpura (HSP), a rare condition caused by a malfunctioning immune system which leads to the blood vessels becoming inflamed, when she was ten.

The condition remained with her but, despite experimental treatments, she ended up with chronic kidney disease.

Now, she is playing a "waiting game" for news on a new kidney donor and will undergo overnight dialysis at home for eight hours each night, which she started on December 8, until a transplant is completed.

Miss Symons was speaking in support of NHS Blood and Transplant's 'Christmas List' campaign, a campaign to get more people to sign the Organ Donor Register (ODR).

Meanwhile, in the Bradford district, 23 people have died while waiting for a transplant between 2010 and this year.

Meanwhile, 57 people in the district have received an organ transplant this year, with 54 people waiting for a transplant this Christmas.

The number of people who have signed up on the ODR in the Bradford area this year currently stands at 126,943.

Last year, in the Bradford area, 103 people, including six children, were waiting for transplants and this year four patients died while waiting for the call to say a match had been found.

Miss Symons said: "A transplant would be a perfect Christmas gift for me.

"I just have to keep going. A donation would mean the world to me.

"It's a waiting game, it will happen when it happens.

"I do struggle, but I've got a positive attitude.

"It would be really good if I got a transplant. My life would improve.

"The reason why I chose to do dialysis at home was so that I could continue with some sort of normality by going to work.

"I've got a really loving family and fantastic friends, who offer plenty of support.

"I would say to people if they sign up for the Organ Donor Register they would be helping people like me."

Tracey Fletcher, an NHS Blood Transplant specialist nurse in organ donation based at Bradford Royal Infirmary, said: "Organ donors save or improve the quality of life of seriously ill patients.

"For many patients a transplant is the only option left and their life depends on families agreeing to donate."

To join the NHS Organ Donor Register, go to organdonation.nhs.uk, call 0300 123 23 23 or text SAVE to 62323.

MORE HEALTH HEADLINES