A dad-of-two from Bickley is undergoing a life-saving operation today as his sister donates her kidney to help him battle a rare genetic disease.

Charles Read, 53, has Fabry Disease which has caused his kidneys to fail over time.

He is the youngest of four siblings – and him and his eldest brother both inherited the gene from their mother who died in January at aged 90 from coronavirus.

Charles’ sister, Alison, was one of “several people” who offered to help save his life – and she turned out to be the best match for the job.

Another willing donor was Charles’ wife of 22 years, Sarah, who said how absolutely “amazing” it is of Alison to do this.

Sarah told the News Shopper: “It’s a complicated process so there are things that could go wrong but to go through that for somebody else is amazing.

“To give part of your body to someone else is also amazing and it really is a gift of life.”

Sarah and Charles have two daughters together, aged 16 and 19, and have known for a long time that Charles’ condition was worsening.

Sarah said: “He’s always known that he has a family history of kidney disease and recently his kidneys have got down to only around five per cent efficiency so he’s been feeling very ill.

“He was supposed to have the surgery earlier but it was put off several times because of Covid so it’s been hanging over him for a while."

She added: “Several people had offered him their kidney, including me but I wasn’t suitable.

“He’ll have to be on immunosuppressants for the rest of his life and the better the match, the less of those you need – so Alison was the best match genetically.

“Words can’t even describe how grateful we are to her.”

Charles has been working as an osteopath for more than 30 years, and Alison has followed in his footsteps and has been working in the same profession for more than 15 years.

They both work at Charles Read and Associates in Claremont Road in Bickley.

Sarah added: “Alison went down for her operation this morning (Friday) and Charles will be going any time now during the afternoon.

“It’s his birthday on Monday and a kidney is a pretty good birthday present.”

Charles and Alison’s eldest brother received a new kidney from a deceased donor more than 20 years ago which is still going strong today.

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