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‘I was scared for my life, I was panicking’: Former Dundee star Kevin McDonald opens up on kidney transplant and remarkable recovery

Recovery: McDonald

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.

“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.

McDonald in action for Dundee
McDonald in action for Dundee

“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’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.”

McDonald celebrates promotion in 2020
Success: McDonald celebrates promotion in 2020

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.