Many thanks for letting us all know of the very sad demise of...

Many thanks for letting us all know of the very sad demise of Chris (ferret). My heart goes out to his family and friends and yes indeed, HC will not be the same without him.

The fact that he died due to renal failure has particular meaning for me as I was diagnosed with a hereditary kidney disease many years ago. Its a long story which I wont bore everyone with except to say that my kidneys eventually failed some years later. I was, however, one of the extremely lucky ones to receive a donor organ (after a relatively short period on Haemodialysis of 18 months) ten years ago.

It is still working very well and I lead a fairly normal life. Over time I have lost too many friends and associates who waited in vain for a suitable organ. It is for this reason that I support the UK based National Kidney Federation which does some really great work highlighting the urgent need for many more donors. I respectfully urge you all to do the same for your equivalent Australian charities if possible.

I was, of course, not aware of Chriss particular medical circumstances but if he could have been helped if a suitable donor had been found in time then he may well have overcome his problems and lived to fight another day. The fact that there are so many patients in similar circumstances is just heartbreaking and makes very angry.

My sincere condolences to his family, friends and everyone who knew him and may he rest in peace.

Kind Regards
Lewis