I designed this silver pin for the Nottingham City Hospital Kidney Transplant Unit.
Magdi Shehata, consultant surgeon, was the driving force behind the idea, and he commissioned me to design and have made 850 silver pins to give to all the living donors of kidneys. These amazing and courageous people donate one of their kidneys to help a loved one survive. The recipients might have been on dialysis for years, with a very poor quality of life, and no real hope of receiving a kidney in any other way.
Almost from the moment the new kidney is plumbed in they begin to feel better, but for the donor, they have gone in to hospital feeling great and come out feeling terrible. They go through major surgery to bring the chance, the hope of life to the recipient.
Of course there is no guarantee that the transplant will be successful, and indeed some are not, others are, but the patient dies anyway, but the majority are a triumph. Whatever the outcome, this can never diminish the astonishing altruism of the donor in giving them the chance to live a life worth having.
After listening to the stories of some of the patients and their donors, I distilled the essence of the gift of a kidney down to two things - hope and life. The two symbols of the anchor (hope) and the ankh (life) come together in the final design which was taken to silversmith Chris Perry in Sheffield. He helped me understand the process of working with silver and what can and can’t be achieved. Between us we settled on the finished piece you see above.
At a special celebration for the donors at Trent Bridge cricket ground in February 2008 the Nottingham donors were presented with their pins and a certificate signed by the transplant team and nursing staff. The certificate read:
The gift of hope is beyond value.
Hope is the engine of our lives
Driving us forward to a brighter future
Through your selfless gift
You have given the hope for this future.
The future shines with a quality
of life that has the power to unite and
transform relationships with friends and
family. The remarkable gift of part of
yourself is a brave and courageous thing to
do regardless of the outcome
of the transplant.
This silver pin is a small token in
recognition of your courage.
The transplant team commend your strength and altruism
in giving such a precious gift. We hope
you will wear it with pride.
