Kevin McDonald admits he feared for his life as he lay on the operating table awaiting a kidney transplant.
The former Dundee and Scotland midfielder underwent the procedure on May 28, having known about the underlying disease since 2008.
The surgery was required to avoid being placed on dialysis, such was the severity of the situation.
McDonald, 32, received a donor organ from his brother, Fraser, before embarking on an onerous path to recovery.
The Carnoustie-born playmaker is now training with the Dens Park outfit — rolling back the years given he emerged through the youth ranks with the Dark Blues — and is able to reflect on a remarkable journey.
Kevin McDonald was forced to put his football career on hold to tackle a life-threatening kidney condition.
The good news is he has had a successful transplant – in fact after juggling major surgery and becoming a father, he’s back in training and hoping to play again 💙 pic.twitter.com/wnnysivJXL
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) October 13, 2021
“You go into that room [operating theatre] and I was scared for my life. Of course I was. I was panicking,” McDonald told Sky Sports.
“They were about to put me to sleep and I just couldn’t stop shaking and thinking ‘this is it, now’.
“The woman who was there was brilliant; having a laugh and trying to get me to relax.
“But you can’t relax.”
Rejection
McDonald confesses that he had given little thought to the immediate aftermath of the operation.
However, he soon faced a daily battle against pain and fatigue — before receiving the galling news that the donor kidney was in danger of being rejected by his body.
“I remember trying to stand up as normal going ‘ow, I can’t do that’,” continued McDonald.
“I couldn’t move much — and when I did get moving, it was at my gran’s pace. And she’s 95!
“Then I got the worst news: your body is trying to reject the kidney.
“They said it was quite a significant rejection for a healthy person like myself. By looking at them, I could tell they were surprised by it. That was a worry.
“I was started on a 10-day treatment. Over that time, I slowly got better and better and my blood levels started to come down.”
🗣 "I've taken my boyhood club back to the Premiership… there will be plenty of tears"
🗣 "I also want to dedicate this promotion to Kevin McDonald who has a kidney transplant next week"
Charlie Adam on Dundee's promotion 👏 | #TheDee pic.twitter.com/Ze1uzShrWZ
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) May 24, 2021
‘I’d be washing my hair and get tired’
The scale of McDonald’s achievement to date — simply being back on the grass — is not to be underestimated, given his starting point when he finally did get home.
“I’d be washing my hair and get tired,” he added. “I had lost all my muscle. I’d be having tea and just be hunched over.”
However, McDonald gradually stepped up his strength and conditioning work and, at the same time, welcomed baby daughter Layla to the world with his wife Lucy.
He recalls his initially ropey return to training with Fulham’s under-23 side with a smile, laughing: “My touch was miles off it at first. I said to the lads: ‘Listen, don’t worry, we’ll get there in the end!’
“But it was so good to be involved in the banter and getting on the ball again.”
It is a feeling he is now lapping up at Dundee.