Dad in urgent need of new kidney to travel 10,000 miles for transplant after best friend steps up to save his life

A father-of-two will travel from Brighton to Australia for a transplant after his best friend turned out to be an almost perfect match and volunteered his kidney to save him from the silent killer disease.

Andrew Lambropoulos, 46, will travel 10,500 miles for the procedure, with the new kidney being donated by his best friend, David Rogowski, 39, who was best man at his wedding and says he is simply “answering the call of friendship”.

Andrew, who lives in Brighton with his wife Lisa, 40, and two children, Jack, five, and one-year-old Florence, is due to fly to Melbourne next month after tests revealed his kidneys had lost more than 80% of their function.

He says David immediately volunteered to donate one of his organs, but that the chances of it being compatible were “very slim”.

As it turns out, not only did they share the same blood type, but their tissue was a close match and David’s kidneys were in “unbelievable” condition.

“I picked the right guy didn’t I?” Andrew told PA Real Life.

“He’s got three kids and a beautiful wife so my first thought was I’m not going to uproot his whole family when he’s doing something for me.”

Andrew has always loved playing sports, in particular cricket and Australian football, having even managed to find a team in the UK, the Sussex Swans.

In 2007, Andrew, known as Rambo by friends, decided to play a football game, even though he was not feeling very well after taking some painkillers to give him an energy boost.

After the game, he started feeling “chest pains” and collapsed two weeks later at a friend’s party where he had been constantly drinking water.

“They rushed me to hospital and found out that my heart rate was going at 270 or 280 beats per minute,” he said.

“It turns out, I had a really bad chest infection and that’s when they noticed that my kidney numbers were lower than they should be.”

Kidney numbers are calculated based on two medical tests which measure how well they are filtering the blood.

Then two years ago, Andrew went for a routine check-up and was told that there had been a “fair drop” and that his kidneys were performing at around 20% of their usual capacity.

“Since then, I’ve been in and out of hospital every coupe of months, just to monitor the situation,” he continued.

“I was also doing blood tests every few weeks, for my own peace of mind, so I could get the numbers and see where I was at.”

Then last year in August, tests showed Andrew’s kidney function had dropped again, this time to around 14%.

“They dropped pretty badly and so that’s when I started ramping up looking for a donor,” he said.

“They literally call it the silent killer because unless you are getting tested for something else or stumble upon it, you probably wouldn’t feel it so much.”

Andrew looked at putting his name down for a kidney transplant in England, through the UK Living Kidney Sharing Scheme, but the average wait time is between two and three years, according to the NHS.

His wife Lisa, knowing Andrew was reluctant to ask for help, posted a “heartfelt message” on social media saying that they were “actively looking for a donor”.

This is when David, who was the best man at Andrew’s wedding, stepped up to possibly save his best friend’s life.

“He knew the whole situation and being the way he is, said ‘Oh, I’m doing it, that’s it.’

“We were all sceptical, thinking ‘Oh that’s great David, your heart’s in the right place, but the chances of everything matching are slim.’

“Then we found out he’s the same blood type, that his tissues were a close enough match and that his kidney function was incredibly good.”

The pair met playing Australian football 20 years ago and have been best friends ever since.

“We hit it off from day one and he’s always had a heart of gold,” said Andrew.

“We’ve been family from day one and there have been many moments where he’s been there for me.

“He’s a great man and I’m very lucky.”

Andrew says he prefers not to look up the details of what will happen during the operation, but has been told there are “plenty of success stories”.

Between 40,000 and 45,000 people lose their life prematurely to chronic kidney disease in the UK every year, according to the NHS.

David, who lives in Melbourne with his wife, Greer, and their three children, did not hesitate to volunteer his organ after seeing Lisa’s social media post.

“He sort of never let us know how serious it was,” said David.

“I saw him in November last year and he just shrugged it off, saying ‘Yeah, I’ll be alright, I’m just watching what I’m eating, we’ll be good’.”

As soon as David read that they were looking for someone who was O positive blood type, he went to get tested.

“Not doing it, I wouldn’t have been able to look at myself in the mirror,” he said.

“It’s a little sacrifice that I’m more than happy to make to have him around in our lives.

“You test your friendship and just hope that your mates answer the call – that’s all I’m doing, answering the call.”

The chances of finding a compatible donor are high between parents and children or siblings, but not “best friends”.

“I said, I’ll just go as far as I can with this, and if I keep ticking the boxes, then I’ll progress to the next stage and here I am,” said David.

“I actually got the all clear a couple of weeks ago.

“I couldn’t believe it.

“I’m not a religious man by any stretch of the imagination, but the fact that we’re best mates, both O positive and a four out of six tissue match – families aren’t even that close.

“And I’m not a small man, I’m 6ft 2ins, 110 kilos, but my tests came back and my kidney function is unbelievable – what are the chances?”

Andrew has booked his flights to Australia via Bangkok on October 2, and is hoping to be back in the UK by March next year.

“We’ll make sure that all the numbers match up again and then jump into the surgery,” said Andrew.

“We’re hoping to do so before the Christmas period.”

During this time, Andrew, a property inspector at the Brighton Marina, will not be able to work.

His close friend Kevin Finn has set up a GoFundMe page to help Andrew cover his living costs while he is recovering in Australia which has already raised £21,370 [41,820 AUS dollars].

“He took it upon himself, knowing that I probably would not have agreed to it,” said Andrew.

“I’m sincerely grateful and feeling a little embarrassed and humbled by it.

“I know how hard it can be for people to hand over money that they could spend on their family.

“And to think they are helping my family is heart warming and I’m very, very grateful.”

Any extra money left over will be donated to help the doctors and nurses of The Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne.

To support Andrew and his family visit: www.gofundme.com/f/andrew-rambo-lambropoulos