About this episode
Brenda reflects on her daughter's selfless act of donating a kidney to save her life.
Brenda, a Canadian mother living with chronic kidney disease, was facing a long and uncertain wait for a transplant, until 2013 when her daughter Kielah stepped forward with an extraordinary act of love. Kielah volunteered to donate a kidney, but when tests revealed she wasn’t a match, she refused to give up. Instead, she entered Canada’s paired exchange programme, donating her kidney to a stranger so that Brenda could receive a compatible one in return. In a poignant letter for Dear Daughter, Brenda reflects on the “ticking clock” of living with a transplant and her daily gratitude for the daughter whose selflessness saved her life. Now a mother herself, Kielah tells Namulanta Kombo about watching her mum’s decline and why, despite the risks, she didn’t hesitate to give up a kidney to save her mum. To find out more about Dear Daughter, to take part, or read our privacy notice, please go to www.bbcworldservice.com/deardaughter. Or you can contact the team via WhatsApp on +44 800 030 4404.
People in this episode
Host: Namulanta Kombo
Guest: Kielah
Topics covered
- organ donation
- family love
- chronic illness
- transplant
- selflessness
- mother-daughter relationship
Keywords
- kidney donation
- transplant
- chronic kidney disease
- family
- selflessness
- paired exchange programme
- mother
- daughter
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Canada, Dear Daughter, BBC World Service
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- Donor conceived · May 1, 2026 · 20 min
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