Inverness Big Band "Highland Swing" will be playing a charity concert on Friday 2nd September, at 7:30pm, at Tain Royal Academy to raise money for the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary Transplant Unit. The concert has been organised by the band's trumpet player June McMillan, who will be going to the Unit later this year (October) to receive a kidney transplant donated from her mother.

June was born with a faulty renal flux valve (discovered when she was 3) which meant that her left kidney was damaged and was functioning at 25% while her right was only operating at 75%. She had an operation to correct it in 1981 when she was 8 but it was only when she moved to the Highlands that her doctor here noticed her creatinin/urea count was increasing, indicating renal impairment. About 3-4 years ago, she was told that her kidneys had been failing at the rate of around 3% a year since she'd been born and she would be on dialysis by January 2004. Fortunately, because she followed the renal diet and kept really healthy & active, the latest tests indicate that her kidneys aren't due to completely fail until the end of December this year.

Some facts about transplants (but you'll find the best info at http://www.uktransplant.org.uk)
1. You are more likely to need a transplant than become a donor.
2. Each year in the UK nearly 3,000 organs are transplanted.
3. The removal of organs is carried out with the same care and respect as any other operation.
4. More than 11.5 million people in the UK have already signed up to save lives by joining the NHS Organ Donor register.
5. This year is the 10th anniversary of the organ donor register and they're aiming for another million people to be registered on it during this year.
6. It is more cost effective to have a kidney transplant (something like £15,000 per patient on the NHS) than be on dialysis (around £45,000 per patient per year on NHS.

Renal disease is one of the fastest growing conditions in Britain (we're going to be facing a serious organ shortage in a few years ... people are dying right now because they can't get a donated organ (eg singer Barry White who died of renal failure last year or the year before)) and transplants are the nearest thing to a 'normal' life for renal patients.

For more information about June, organ donation, or Highland Swing, please contact: Campbell McCracken campbell@madscotsman.co.uk or 07710 226095.