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29th July 2024

New life after kidney transplant

Jeff Miles

Jeff Miles has been given the gift of life.  

A loving husband and father of four, Jeff, 46, can now spend everyday moments with his family –  watching his kids grow up, play sport, create memories through travel, and so much more.  

And it’s all been made possible after a long-awaited kidney transplant, following a lifetime living with kidney disease, six years on dialysis and four ‘false alarm’ calls. 

Jeff Miles kidney transplant recipient

Jeff’s journey started with a highly-risky surgery when he was just six weeks old.  

“I wasn’t meant to get through that surgery,” he said.  

He then went on to live a reasonably comfortable life, until his mid 30s when he had a few scares and was told he needed to go on dialysis at age 39. 

“And I really thought – that’s my life done. For someone who’s travelled around for so long, to be told I’d be stuck to a chair, that was a really emotional time.  

“I remember driving home to tell my wife and break the news to my kids that dad’s sick – proper sick. That was really hard.”  

Another hard journey came in getting ready for dialysis, with the fistula getting infected and requiring numerous surgeries, and then a fear of needles causing him to faint.  

But thanks to the expert care and patience of staff from the Central & Northern Adelaide Renal Transplant Service (CNARTS) at Hampstead Gardens, he eventually learnt to administer his own dialysis, and was able to do home dialyisis for the majority of his six-year journey – allowing him to be more present for his family and work commitments.  

Throughout those years, he was on the wait list for a kidney transplant, which again came with its ups and downs.  

“Over the six years on dialysis, I had four calls to go in for a transplant. They didn’t eventuate for different reasons but there was quite a long journey there.”  

Then in November 2023, the fifth call came.  

“By the end of it, I was doing dialysis five hours a night, four days a week, and it was really taking its toll on me. So by the time that kidney come, it was time. 

“Waiting in hospital for the surgery, I told my wife and kids I love them, but then there’s a period there where I put my phone away and it was the first time I was actually alone with my own thoughts. You can really think some full-on stuff… myself and my family and obviously the donor family too.”  

Jeff’s donor family has always been at the forefront of his mind, knowing that the family is grieving a loss of life while he has received the gift of life.  

“I feel nothing but sad for them, but forever grateful. We’re both on very different journeys and they may not have known my journey, but it’s helped my four kids, my wife, my mum and dad, my brothers and sisters, my workplace. 

“The gift of an organ donation goes a lot longer than people think. A lot further than people think.”  

Jeff is now living a “normal” life with his family. 

“I went back to work just under three months after my surgery. I’m back taking my kids to all their sports again, riding bikes with my boys. I can travel again for work. We’re travelling to Queensland later this year as a family which we haven’t done for a long time.  

“So it’s created normality again, for my life again.”  

Jeff’s also grateful for the wonderful care of Associate Professor Shilpa Jesudason and Professor Toby Coates AO, whose work is supported by Kidney, Transplant & Diabetes Research Australia (KTDRA), a charity of The Hospital Research Foundation Group 

“I remember having a conversation about who people idolise in life. People idolise footballers, cricketers and bands – but why aren’t we idolising people like this. Dr Toby and Dr Shilpa and other doctors in general, they’re doing the things that matter. 

“The science behind what happens is just amazing, and that can only be done through research.”  

To give more people like Jeff a new lease on life, please donate to KTDRA’s world-leading research. 

To register as an organ donor, visit donatelife.gov.au  

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