Sisterly love saves life in UK transplant first

Up until earlier this year, Geraldine Rowing and Annemarie Atha, who both live in Rothwell, Leeds, always believed they were nonidentical, or fraternal, twins.

But it was only when Ms Rowing, a mother-of-two who is in remission following a battle with liver cancer in 2007, found that she was suffering with potentially life-threatening liver disease that things changed after her sister decided to get tested to see whether she could donate part of her liver.

The 48-year-old was facing an agonising wait on the transplant register as well as the prospect of having to take a cocktail of anti-rejection drugs, which could increase the risk of her cancer returning, so her body would accept the new organ.

Desperate to help her sister, Ms Atha was tested at Leeds St James’s Hospital and was surprised to find out that, despite not looking identical, their genes were 98 per cent matched. Ms Atha was found to be a suitable organ donor.

Seven months after the first live liver transplant between identical twins in the UK, Ms Rowing is now on the road to recovery as the pair’s near identical genes meant she has not needed the anti-rejection “immunosuppressant” drugs.

“I thought the worst was over, but then a few years ago I started with ascites that suggested the liver was failing – I knew things weren’t good but I never imagined I’d need a liver transplant,” she said. “I feel incredibly lucky. To find out we were the first identical twins in the UK to have that was a complete shock.”

The fact that the pair had never known they were identical twins has seemingly brought them even closer together, with the very real prospect of a long, painful wait for a suitable organ donor from outside the family averted after Ms Atha gave 60 per cent of her liver to her sister.

Ms Rowing, whose weight ballooned to over 11 and a half stone before her transplant due to her liver retaining fluid, said: “When I was first put on the transplant list they said, ‘you’re not really poorly yet so it could be two years before you’re at the top of the list’.

“If it wasn’t for Annemarie I would still be on the list now.”

Her sister said: “We’ve grown up believing we’re not identical because Geraldine’s got a wider smile than me and she’s got a squarer face than me. We’ve both got the silly same nose and I’m a teeny, teeny bit taller than Geraldine. So mum always said ‘you’re not identical’.

“But they said you’re identical enough to do the transplant.”

Following the procedure in April, Ms Rowing’s health has improved and her sister’s liver has regenerated to 80 to 90 per cent of its original size.

Ms Atha added: “I nearly feel I have got my sister back, I would like her to put some more weight on though.”

Live transplants – where the donor is a living person – are getting more common according to consultant surgeon Raj Prasad, although he said the sisters’ tale is “one in a billion”.

“In many ways we were fortunate to have the option available to us that nature provided,” he said. “When someone goes to the waiting list, that’s an assumption they will die of liver failure in the next year or two without a transplant.”

According to NHS statistics, between April 1 2013 and March 31 this year, only around 920 liver transplants were carried out in the UK.