Andy's Story

Turning 21 is symbolic of adulthood and independence, but for Andy Prigg, that milestone represented a second chance at life.

Just days after his 21st birthday, Andy underwent a 14-hour dual liver and kidney transplant at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham (QEHB), which was a life-saving operation that transformed his future.

Andy, now 22, grew up near Chester and was born with autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease (ARPKD), a rare genetic condition that can severely affect the kidneys and liver. According to the NHS, in general one in three babies with ARPKD dies within the first four weeks from breathing difficulties.

Despite frequent hospital appointments throughout childhood, Andy worked hard at school and has gone on to study medicine at the University of Sheffield.

Describing what it was like growing up unwell, Andy said:

“It was like living with a constant heavy, foggy tiredness and aches that never really lifted. This was my normal and I had nothing to compare it with.

“I was incredibly fortunate though and had brilliant support growing up, both at home and clinically from the doctors, nurses and hospital teams.”

When he started university, his health began to deteriorate more rapidly, and he was placed on the national waiting list for a combined kidney-liver transplant in January 2024.

“Waiting is hard to explain. You’re trying to keep going with studying, turning up, and acting like a normal member of society; but you’re living in limbo, listening for a call that could come at any moment.

“It was a long stretch of helplessness, sleepless nights and contradictory emotions; because I knew that the call that could save my life would be tied to another family’s worst day.”

The call did eventually come, and the transplant was completed successfully in June 2024 and had an immediate and profound impact.

“It completely transformed my life almost overnight. I have so much more mental and physical energy now. I can do normal things without constantly measuring my day around how unwell I feel.”

Andy received a kidney and half a liver from a deceased donor, and he is clear that his recovery - and his future - rests on the generosity of one family’s decision.

“I’ll never be able to fully put into words what that gift means. I’m grateful every day to my donor and their family, and to the teams who cared for me at every stage, especially at QEHB,” he said.

Andy’s transplant experience has also shaped his ambitions to become a surgeon himself.

He added: “I was cared for by doctors and nurses who were not only technically outstanding, but consistently kind and calm. They didn’t just treat my condition but treated me as a person. Seeing that standard of care up close, year after year, made me want to go into this field of medicine so that I can be that steady person for someone else.”

Alongside his medical degree, Andy has also become increasingly involved in independent research with transplant academics and clinicians across the UK. His work focuses on improving how organ donation and transplantation are understood - both within healthcare and in the wider public. He is currently leading national research exploring how organ donation is taught in UK medical schools, which is aiming to identify gaps in student knowledge to support practical, evidence-based improvements to undergraduate education.

Since his transplant, Andy has also thrown himself into fitness and sport, including competing at last year’s Westfield Health British Transplant Games in Oxford, where he won two gold medals in cycling.

The Westfield Health British Transplant Games is the annual flagship event of Transplant Active, and is a multi-sport event created to demonstrate the healthy, fulfilling lives that transplant patients can lead, whilst also providing an opportunity to thank live donors and donor families for their life-changing generosity.

Sheffield is hosting the 2026 iteration between 6 and 9 August, where over 2,500 participants, including organ donors and their families, are expected to take part across 26 sports.

Andy said: “For me, the Games represent the peak of that ‘second chance’. They show what organ donation makes possible. It is not just surviving. It is about living!

“Sheffield 2026 is a huge opportunity to celebrate that, to shine a spotlight on the power of donation and also to start more conversations about donation.”

And

he hopes sharing his story can act as a catalyst for more people to consent to becoming an organ donor at a time when transplant waiting lists are at a record high, with more than 8,000 people in the UK actively in need of life-saving organs, according to NHS Blood and Transplant.

Andy commented: “Please have the conversation with your family now about wanting to consent to organ donation when you are no longer alive. You could end up saving up to nine lives - and changing 50 more.

“That family conversation matters, because it is your loved ones who grant or decline consent upon your death, and them knowing what you’d want takes the uncertainty away for your loved ones and can help turn tragedy into hope.

“The conversation also matters because without it, the consent rate is around 50 per cent, but this them jumps to 90 per cent if it has been discussed.”