‘My kidney gave hope to Anaya’ says superhero mum

In a last ditch attempt to save their daughter Anaya, parents Joety and Amrik Kandola posted on an appeal on Facebook for a kidney donor.

When it looked as though all hope was lost they received a reply from NHS radiographer Surinder Sapal, who lives in Wakefield.

Tests showed that Surinder was a match for Anaya and the transplant went ahead.

Surinder said: “It was a one in 100,000 match, it was like a needle in haystack.”

Surinder, 36, has two daughters and said mind was made up to go through with the operation when she imagined what Anaya’s parents were going through.

She said: “They said in their video appeal that neither of them were a match for Anaya and I thought ‘what if I wasn’t a match for my kids?’.

“If I was in that situation I’d hope for help from a stranger so why wouldn’t I help another mother?”

After the transplant, Surinder, who works at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, made contact with Anaya’s family.

She was given a number and went to meet Anaya’s parents in person in Newcastle several weeks later.

She said: “When I met them they said ‘you’re a real angel, you’re a superhero’. I thought ‘I just wanted to help’.

“If there was anything I could say to anyone who needs a transplant – go out and ask. Make people aware.

“That’s the only way that anyone will know and the only way I knew about Anaya.

“And to anyone who is thinking about donating – give it a go if you’re brave enough, it’s the most amazing feeling in the world and I would do it again if I could.”

Anyone interested in finding out more about donating a kidney can go to NHS Blood and Transplan