Portsmouth woman raises £1,400 in memory of husband for renal unit

Jackie Hill has donated £1,450 to Queen Alexandra Hospital’s renal unit following the death of her partner Graham.

He was a patient in the Cosham ward for 34 years and even helped out at educational events held by the staff.

The money will be put towards a body composition monitor for home dialysis patients. The device is especially helpful for patients that have difficult-to-control blood pressure, cardiac issues and other medical conditions.

Jackie, from Portsmouth, said: ‘My husband Graham was part of the renal family for some 34 years where he had been looked after for most of his adult life.

‘Once diagnosed you are always a part of “the family”.

‘Many of the staff spend their whole careers with the unit and you form very strong ties.’

After Graham’s transplant failed he was back on dialysis and in 2014 was asked if he would like to train for home dialysis. After agreeing, his health improved and he was no longer spending hours in hospital three times a week.

It gave him the opportunity to go on holiday and he became the first person to perform haemodialysis on a longboat.

Jackie added: ‘I will be forever grateful for the care and dedication of everyone concerned in caring for Graham.’

The body composition monitor costs £7,500 and the unit is helping raising the rest of the funds needed.

Dr Natalie Borman, consultant nephrologist for the renal unit, said: ‘The donation from Mrs Hill will go a long way towards reaching our goal of purchasing this machine.

‘It’s so incredible that friends and relatives of patients with kidney disease want to continue to support us, to improve the lives of others.’