Commentary
Thom Green is drummer for Alt-J – and has kidney failure and a transplant, and deafness, all caused by the inherited condition Alport Syndrome, which came on in his teens.
In short videos he talks about the shock of dialysis, how different living with a transplant is, and about his (deceased) kidney donor. There’s a bit about accommodating to such a devastating sudden diagnosis so young, too. The video above is segment 3 in which he talks about how low he reached on dialysis. In segment 4 he talks about the transformation brought about by his kidney transplant, and of his donor, who died of asthma. Video 1 has music and he talks about diagnosis and deafness; in 2 he talks about deafness. They were filmed backstage at Madison Square Garden.
Every patient who has experienced dialysis and transplantation has an affecting story to tell.
Further info
- Alport Syndrome (edren), named after Edinburgh graduate Dr Cecil Alport
- Alt-J (YouTube); Alt-J (own website)
- Edren textbook on Haemodialysis and Peritoneal dialysis and Transplantation
- More patient experiences (edren)
Contributed by
Neil Turner