An appeal to help a beloved Macclesfield man with kidney failure has been launched.

Martin Ball (41), who has lived all his life in Macclesfield, is suffering the consequences of being diagnoses with kidney failure, worsened by the pandemic.

Three years ago, Martin was struck down with the news that he only had five per cent function between both of his kidneys.

He was diagnosed with a hereditary kidney failure, which also affected his brother and which made his sibling unsuitable as a donor. Nobody in his family can donate because of the renal failure within their family.

Family friend and Macclesfield resident Harriet Tombs has launched an appeal to search for a new organ donor, and crowdfund to mitigate the financial impact his condition has brought on his life.

Martin is still suffering with hereditary kidney disease and his loved ones want to raise £15,000 for him. He's had to pack in his job as a Specialist Electrician due to the furlough scheme ending.

"Martin is a very close friend of mine, we've been friends with him since I moved to Macclesfield two years ago," Harriet told Macclesfield Nub News.

"He has always been a hard-working individual with a very healthy lifestyle. He's a very highly qualified electrician who loved the gym.

"He went to the top of his game in his career where he was a Specialist Electrician. He used to install electrics on petrol pumps.

"For the first two years of his diagnosis he continued working. But he has got to the point now where he has been told he's got to leave because furlough was ending and he isn't fit to do his role."

While it is crucial to find a living donor after three years of waiting, there is another sense of urgency to cover Martin not being able to work and medical expenses.

Martin has to regularly travel from Macclesfield to Manchester for endless appointments, and he always has to be within two hours from a hospital.

"Martin is going to start having financial problems because he is getting to the point where he can't maintain a normal lifestyle," said Harriet.

"He can't work in the job he loves with the need for daily dialysis every day. He needs to get up at 2am every morning to dialyse and he's exhausted.

"And his whole health basically deteriorates as a result. It is taking over his whole life.

"He's a hard-working individual that has never claimed benefits, has always been very proud, he's got his own house because he has worked very hard to get it, and he's got a mortgage to pay.

"Life fell below him when he got to the point where this happened, and I think the message we want to get out is that a normal working guy at 41 who has always looked after his health.

"He's never smoked he's really looked what he eats, and I think that is the only reason he is still alive now being honest.

"If he hadn't have done that I think we would be in even more of a situation with him.

"I've seen him deteriorate in his health during the last three years. He's gone from being a strong cage fighting gym toting individual to quite a frail individual who's whole life is dictated by dialysis."

You can donate and contact the organisers by clicking this link.

Numbers from Kidney Care UK suggest there are just under 30,000 people on dialysis within the UK.

On average, it takes two-and-a-half years to find an organ donor for transplant. Martin has waited six months longer than that, and counting.

Approximately 3,000 kidney transplants take place every year in the UK, but around 5,000 people are still waiting.

Up to one in three patients with kidney disease will experience depression at some point, according to more figures from the UK's leading kidney patient support charity.

You can read more about Martin's condition and donate to the campaign by searching "Help Martin cope through kidney Failure". You can also click on the link here.

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