Brad Walker Calls Donating Kidney to Daughter a No-Brainer
Brad Walker, a 28-year-old father from Derby, gave a kidney to his five-year-old daughter Noa-Rae on November 4. She has nephrotic syndrome and lost both kidneys at age three. He says she is doing well, but warns a transplant is not a cure.
Brad Walker, a 28-year-old father of two from Chellaston, Derby, donated a kidney to his five-year-old daughter, Noa-Rae, on November 4. He said donating a kidney to his daughter was a "no-brainer" once he learned he could be a match.
Noa-Rae has nephrotic syndrome, a condition that makes the kidneys leak large amounts of protein into the urine. Walker said he "got lucky" to be a transplant match.
Since the operation, he said, Noa-Rae has been doing "really well" and is "looking forward to being at school full-time". She has often missed school because of illness.
A diagnosis at age two
Walker said his daughter was a healthy child until her face began to swell when she was two. "She would wake up with a swollen face that would last for hours," he said.
Doctors first thought it was a skin or eye problem. A blood test then showed nephrotic syndrome.
NHS England says the condition reduces the amount of protein in the blood. It can lead to swelling of body tissues, a greater chance of catching infections and blood clots, the NHS said.
"At the time, me and my wife had no idea what nephrotic syndrome was because it's such a rare condition," Walker said. He described going from a normal life to spending days and weeks in and around hospital.
Noa-Rae had both kidneys removed at age three because of the severity of the condition. She then began dialysis and spent much of her time in hospital, missing school and other day-to-day activities. "She's been an absolute trooper, all she really knows is hospital appointments," Walker said.
Why a parent stepped forward
After the kidneys came out, Walker said the next step "was always going to be a transplant". Doctors told the family that parents had quite a high chance of being a match.
"To sacrifice one part of yourself to better your own kid's life should be a no-brainer really," he said.
Walker said doctors were "really pleased" with the outcome. Because he has lost a kidney and she has gained one, he said, her kidney currently functions better than his.
Not a cure
Walker stressed that the operation does not end the story. There is "no telling" how long the donated kidney will last, he said.
"People tend to think that a transplant is a cure, but it's not, she will need multiple transplants throughout her life," he said.
NHS Blood and Transplant says a kidney may be rejected when the body's immune system recognizes that it came from a different person. Doctors hope Walker's kidney will keep working until Noa-Rae is "at least the age of 16".
Waiting list in the East Midlands
NHS Blood and Transplant said 539 people in the East Midlands were on the kidney transplant waiting list at the end of October. Between April 2025 and March 2026, 196 kidney transplants took place in the region, 141 from deceased donors and 55 from living donors.
A total of 158 people donated a kidney in the past year, 108 deceased donors and 50 living donors.
Walker called organ donation "super important" and urged others to consider becoming donors. "It'll make a massive difference to whoever it needs to go to," he said.
His family is now looking toward life beyond hospital appointments. "There should hopefully be a bit less hospital time," Walker said.
