'He's always been by my side - now he's given me his kidney'
22 September 2026
The life-saving work of our kidney transplant team has featured on BBC Look North.
Phil donated his kidney to wife Fiona and their transplant journey here at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was filmed by BBC Look North as part of Organ Donation Week.
The BBC - who were given special permission to film at the Sheffield Kidney Institute - documented Fiona and Phil Holbert's tranasplant journey as they bravely prepare for surgery to the transplants themselves. Finally, the couple are shown back home, recovering well five weeks post-transplant.
The operation to remove Phil's kidney lasted seven hours. Depsite the complexity, the organ is safely retirevied, demonstrating the specialist sikills of the transplant team.
It begins to work immediately on implantation into Fiona, with the transplant team saying they are 'over the moon' to see this result so quickly.
Transforming lives
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Speaking to BBC Look North transplant surgeon Mr Badri Shrestha said the transplant should make a big difference to the quality of their lives.
"If the wife has kidney failure, the dialysis directly impacts the life of the husband and the whole family."
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals ia a major centre for kidney transplantation.
In 2025, 60 kidney transplants, including 19 from a living donor, were undertaken at the Trust.
Caroline Basarab-Horwath, who has been a living donor coordinator for 20 years, told the BBC: 'Living donors can go and live a normal life, free from dialysis and free from any food restrictions and get their energy back. Fiona is feeling full of energy and at home now.'
Become a living donor
There are currently 230 patients waiting for a kidney transplant in Sheffield.
Please take a moment to register or confirm your decision about donation by visiting https://register.organdonation.nhs.uk/start/. Registering your decision today could save up to nine lives.
For more information about living kidney donation and how you can make a difference please contact the Living Donor team here at Sheffield, 0114 2715983, sth.livingdonation@nhs.net.
We would like to pass on a big thank you to everyone who was involved.
BBC News article:
"I'm giving my wife the gift of life by donating my kidney" - BBC News
