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Man's bid to save friend with kidney donation suffers setback

A man's bid to save his best friend's life by donating his kidney has suffered a setback after a scan revealed cysts that may need treatment.

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Stuart Bentley was expected to be signed off by doctors on Thursday to undergo the operation.

But two cysts have been found on his kidney and liver, which have stopped doctors in their tracks.

Now Nathan Black, of Brownhills, must wait for the outcome of more tests to see whether his friend needs to be treated.

They hope the operation can still go ahead but it could be held back by months.

Father-of-three Nathan, aged 45, has already had his hopes dashed before when his body rejected the kidney his mother Adrienne had donated.

But then Stuart, 46, heard about the ordeal his friend of 12 years faced, he did not hesitate to offer to donate one of his own kidneys.

And after tests revealed he was both a tissue and blood match, doctors were ready to go ahead with the procedure.

However final tests revealed cysts on Stuart's kidney and liver. They could be harmless and often develop in middle age - but they need to be checked out.

Nathan said: "A similar thing happened with my mom and it didn't stop the operation but it can delay things by a couple of months.

"We need to wait for the results of another test to see whether he needs treatment. He was due to be medically signed off on Thursday so we were really close, and prior to this he had got the green light.

"They need to make sure they don't take a kidney out that there could be problems with later.

"It could set us back but we are keeping positive."

In 2005 Nathan's kidneys began to fail after he picked up a disease that went undiagnosed. He received the transplant from his 70-year-old mother in last February last year.

But just two weeks before he was due to be given the all-clear, he started suffering complications as the toxins in his body had begun to rise and not enough blood was going to his new kidney.

He was forced to undergo three ultrasound scans, a biopsy, an MRI scan and an angiogram, which all confirmed his worst fear – the organ was being starved of blood and as a result was slowly dying.

After 10 days in Birmingham's QE Hospital, doctors made the decision to remove the kidney and on May 1 it was taken out.

He was then put back on the donors waiting list with around 6,000 other patients.

But when Stuart, of Cannock, heard his friend was in hospital, he rushed to be at his side – and out of blue offered to be his donor.

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