Young nurse given five years to live after horror sepsis battle saved by brother's kidney

Kristin Hamill was saved by her brother Brendan after being diagnosed with sepsis and pneumonia and having multiple organ failures.

A nurse given five years to live after sepsis left her with multiple organ failure was saved by a kidney donation - from her brother. Kristin Hamill was rushed to hospital in June 2022, vomiting blood and with extreme pain in her abdomen.

Doctors diagnosed her with sepsis and pneumonia, and Kristin's family were told she could have as little as half an hour to live. But two years on from that terrible night, the 26-year-old from Greenock is still alive and has now qualified as a paediatric nurse.

And she says it's all thanks to her brother Brendan deciding to donate one of his kidneys to her. The pair have now shared their story to raise awareness as part of Organ and Tissue Donation Week and encourage others to follow in Brendan's footsteps.

Kristin says Brendan's act of heroism has given her back her life. She added: "The difference from when I was so unwell on dialysis and attending the hospice to when I woke up from Brendan giving me his kidney, is amazing. I was like a new person.

"The surgeons say that if they looked at my bloods and didn't know I had one kidney, because Brendan's was so well taken care of and was such a good match, they'd think I had two. Within months I went from being with the palliative care team to being a staff nurse."

Thanks to the hard work of medical staff, Kristin pulled through her initial brush with death, but was left with kidney and liver failure. That meant she had to go on kidney dialysis, but the treatment took such a toll on her body that she also suffered heart failure, a condition that continues to affect her.

Kristin said: "When I was on dialysis I would spend every day in bed. There was just no quality of life at all.

"There's no understanding from some people of what it's like to be on dialysis. Every time I went on that machine I was at risk of cardiac arrest. I wasn't stable enough to come home on dialysis either.

"Your blood pressure drops, your heart rate goes up, and you have seconds for them to turn the machine off and let your body rest. You'll be sitting there and you've literally just nearly died and then they'll say they have to put the machine back on because you need to dialyse."

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Doctors told Kristin in 2022 that if she had remained on dialysis, she would have between three and five years left to live because of the strain it would put on her heart. They waited to see if her kidneys would recover, but just before Christmas 2022 she received the devastating news that there was no sign of repair, and that a transplant was her only option.

By February 2023, Kristin had recovered to the point where she could be put on the transplant list. And she was thrown a lifeline by her brother, who turned out to be a perfect kidney and blood match for her.

Brendan told the Telegraph that as soon as he heard he was a match, his mind was made up.

"It had to be done," he said. "There was no question. Kristin was on the ' emergency deceased donor ' list, but there was no chance I was going to wait on something like that coming when I could do it myself."

Brendan began to work hard on improving his own fitness to ensure the best chance of the operation being a success. He had to endure nine long months of testing before he was finally able to give his sister his kidney at the turn of the year.

But the 30-year-old says the months of tests and the recovery after the operation were all worth it to see his younger sister back to living a full life. He said: "I've just turned 30, I've managed to achieve a lot and had a good laugh along the way with my wife, my lovely son and a good family.

"For Kristin, she went from school, to college, to university, to high dependency. She had her whole life taken from her. If there was anyone who didn't deserve that, it was her."

The inspirational local dad said it had been incredibly difficult to watch his sister go through the pain of regular dialysis. He added: "When Kristin was on dialysis, she was in with a lot of people who weren't as lucky or successful as her.

"People sitting on either side of her in the hospital who she was really good friends with passed away while she was going through that. That's tougher than anything, to sit and watch people - not just one, multiple people - in the same position as you, slowly passing away, but still have the energy to keep going every day."

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Kristin says nine months on from her transplant, she is still incredibly grateful to Brendan and the hardworking medical staff who supported her. She said: "The dialysis nurses at the IRH were amazing. They ended up being like my family. They're the most amazing team. Brendan has been so incredible.

"We were praying a donor would come up, it was so horrible because you know you're either waiting for someone to lose your life so you're taking that kidney or your own brother has to risk life. It's just hard to think someone can love you that much. People always say they'd give their life for yours, but he did."

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