Skydive for kidney transplant patient mere months after surgery
The stunt raised nearly £2,000 for the unit which cared for him.
A man recovering from a life-saving kidney transplant has taken part in a charity skydive only months after his successful surgery.
Scott Cather took to the skies earlier this summer, and ended up raising £1657.09 for the Transplant Service at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow.
A cheque for this amount was presented to the unit as part of Organ and Tissue Donation Week, which runs until Sunday the 24th September.
“It really was a no-brainer,” said the 56-year-old. “The whole team did so much for me and I wanted to do something to properly thank them – everyone who had done so much to care for me and give me this new lease of life.
“I’d always wanted to do a sky-dive, so after the operation I said to my wife: ‘That’s what I’m going to do’.”
Jumping from plane "best thing I've ever done"
Scott did his jump at Skydive St Andrews, Glenrothes, at the end of July – barely seven months after his life-saving operation.
“I went with my two stepdaughters and one of my stepdaughters’ boyfriends,” he said. “We got there good and early so we were first in the queue. The weather was good on the day so when we took the plunge conditions were great.
“It was one of the best things I’ve ever done, and the fact I was raising money for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde made it even more special.”
Scott, from the village of Auchinloch in North Lanarkshire, had been on dialysis for many months before his operation and, though he tried to stay positive, the process was taking its toll on him and his family.
“Quite simply, it felt like I was counting down to kidney failure,” he said.
“I’d spent seven months on dialysis at Stobhill in Glasgow, and then my wife Diane was trained in how to administer the procedure, so we did that at home for another eight months.
“We tried to stay positive but, strangely, the week before my transplant, it was like I’d had enough and I said to my wife: ‘I really need a new kidney now’.
“It was like someone heard me.”
Transplant has provided a new life
The call about Scott’s new kidney came at 8am on December 3rd 2022.
“It came totally out of the blue,” he said. “They said we’ve got a kidney, and it’s a really good match.
“We were supposed to be looking after our grandson Harry that day so, as well as being really emotional and excited, we needed to make arrangements at short notice.
“I was in the QEUH by 11am, had the tests I needed and had the surgery that day.
“The surgery itself was successful and, once my recovery was properly under way, that was when I decided I wanted to do something to properly thank the whole team at the QEUH.”
Diane, who married Scott in June 2022, had always known him living with kidney disease, so for her the change after the operation was huge.
“Before the transplant he was tired all the time, sleeping 15 hours a day,” she said. “So to go from that to jumping out of a plane was wonderful to witness.
“I can’t put into words how much the operation means to us.
“It’s given Scott his life back – and it’s given our whole family a new life. I’ve got a new Scott, and I’ll never take that for granted."
When Susan Easson, Senior Charge Nurse at the Transplant Unit, was told of Scott’s charity jump so soon after his operation, at first she didn’t believe it.
“I thought ‘It can’t be him – not that soon’. In fact, we had to check it was definitely him – not his brother or someone like that!
“I can’t thank Scott enough. I’m just so humbled by this wonderful gesture, and I’m so happy for him and his family."