Karen Davey, a 41-year-old mother of four from Wales who was in stage three kidney failure, posted a plea for a living donor on Facebook after her family members were not compatible matches. Gary Summerfield, a security guard and total stranger, saw the post and, upon discovering he was a match, donated one of his kidneys to Karen via an operation in July. This act gave Karen another chance at life and significantly reduced what would have been a two-to-three-year wait for a deceased donor kidney transplant to about three to six months with a living donor.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-17,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
- Published
A woman who shared a desperate plea for a kidney on Facebook has undergone a lifesaving transplant after a stranger offered to be her donor.
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stranger → publish → transplant
Karen Davey, 41, had exhausted every avenue before turning to social media, where she said she did not "want to leave her family without a mother".
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she → exhaust → mother
Gary Summerfield saw the mum-of-four's post and, after learning he was a match, donated one of his kidneys via an operation in July.
"I thought this lady needs one of my kidneys more than I need two of them," said Gary.
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Gary → see → them
Karen's family said they would never be able to repay Gary for his generosity, adding that it had given her "another chance to be a mum".
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it → say → chance
The average wait for a deceased donor kidney transplant in the UK is two to three years, according to NHS Blood and Transplant, but if you have a living donor it can be about three to six months.
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it → accord → donor
She underwent a heart transplant 10 years ago, after having a heart attack aged 31 while watching her son play football.
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son → undergo → football
A transplant increases the risk of infection because of the medication patients need to take following the procedure, and complications led to Karen developing kidney failure.
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Karen → increase → failure
"I knew the tablets I was taking following the heart transplant would damage the kidneys so they try and keep the dose as low as possible, but we always knew when I had the heart transplant that I would probably need a kidney transplant at some point, and that is hard to deal with mentally.
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that → know → point
"
Karen, from Brynna, Rhondda Cynon Taf, was in stage three kidney failure when she discovered her friends and family were not matches and decided to put a plea on Facebook.
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friends → discover → Facebook
She explained in her post that she has a relatively rare blood type and described the kidney failure as putting her life on hold.
"My main thing is the kids, I want to be around for them.
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I → explain → them
"The kids were 10 years younger when I had the heart transplant, and they've been through a lot since then and the kidney was just the next hurdle," she added.
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she → have → lot
Gary, a security guard from Tredegar, Blaenau Gwent, stumbled upon Karen's post by chance and felt he had to help.
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he → stumble → chance
"I saw Karen's appeal and she mentioned the children, and I thought 'Karen's a similar age to my daughter and her youngest child is the same age as my grandson', and I just thought it's terrible for the children.
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it → see → children
"If It was my daughter, I would be searching everywhere if we had exhausted all avenues through the family and friends, I would want a stranger to come forward.
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stranger → search → family
And I thought it would be selfish not to."
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it → think → ?
He added: "I thought this lady needs one of my kidneys more than I need two of them."
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I → add → them
Although, Gary, 60, had never met Karen, he immediately volunteered to be tested.
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he → meet → Karen
He underwent extensive assessments, including compatibility testing, psychological evaluations, blood tests, cholesterol checks and other medical examinations.
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He → undergo → testing
The pair then underwent the six-hour procedure on 15 July at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff.
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pair → undergo → Cardiff
Gary said he never had any second thoughts.
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he → say → thoughts
"It's amazing seeing Karen today, the first time since the transplant and looking so well.
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It → see → transplant
"For me, donating a kidney is simply up there with getting married and having my children, it's one of the top three things in my life.
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it → donate → life
Karen said she felt "100 times better" and her husband Matthew said they would always be grateful to Gary.
"
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they → say → Gary
Everyone knows what's going on in the world at the moment, it's a horrible place at times, but it really does give you hope that there is kindness in the world.
"
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it → know → world
We'll never, ever be able to repay Gary and the family for what they've done, and to give Karen another chance, another chance of being able to be the mother to our children and just live a life that she deserves.
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she → repay → that
"He has given that gift of life."
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He → give → life
Karen added: "The fact that somebody came forward and has gone through all the testing, because it's a lot of testing.
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it → add → testing
For somebody to put their body through that and having a kidney taken out for somebody that they don't know, it's mind-blowing, I'm just so grateful."
The couple's son Brandon, 17, said it was "amazing" to see his mum on the road to recovery after the transplant.
"
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mum → put → transplant
She's looked better now than she has in a long while.
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she → look → while
"It can be scary, obviously, when she's going into surgeries, but you just have to have hope.
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you → go → hope
It's just amazing there's still good people out there."
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It → be → ?
The Aporia
