Ageing with attitude: Patricia MacKenzie has a new lease of life after a kidney transplant

The gift of a new kidney gave Patricia MacKenzie a fresh start eight years ago, and she has vowed to make the most of that chance every day, writes Margaret Jennings.   

WE hear about organ donation giving people the ‘gift of life’, but in the case of Patricia MacKenzie, who received a new kidney at the age of 58, it not only freed her from the routine of being tied to a dialysis machine three times a week for eight years, it also gave her a whole new appreciation of how she wanted to spend every moment afterwards.

“I won’t do anything unless it has meaning. I was given this gift, you know, and I have to look after it well,” she says, adding that she will never take for granted her restored health and energy.