Uqbah Muhammad, a 16-year-old from Bradford, has end-stage kidney failure and requires dialysis three times a week. Her mother, Ummarah, is appealing for a living kidney donor to save her daughter's life. Uqbah has received three transplant offers from the NHS waiting list, but doctors advised turning them down due to donors being elderly or having health conditions. Her parents were tested as potential kidney donors but were not suitable matches. Ummarah considered a chain donation where she would donate to a stranger in exchange for a donation to Uqbah, but tests showed she was unable to donate, leaving the family in a difficult situation.
In contrast, Maya, a 16-year-old from Hadleigh, Essex, suffered severe kidney damage from an E.coli infection in January 2024. Her mother, Maria Solecki, contacted the local newspaper Echo in March 2025 to appeal for a kidney donor for her daughter. Emma Palmer, a 51-year-old journalist at the Echo, was assigned to write the story and was found to be a compatible kidney donor for Maya. After contacting the Echo, around 20 people came forward for testing as potential donors for Maya. Emma Palmer's identity as the donor was revealed to Maria Solecki in November after passing health checks. Emma Palmer donated a kidney to Maya in a transplant operation on January 6.
I can't even imagine going through this with Uqbah. She is my whole universe. If you feel you could consider being tested as a living kidney donor, please come forward.
The community response to Maya's appeal led to multiple potential donors, and the transplant occurred within the typical timeline for such procedures. The average wait for a kidney transplant after a living donor is found is three to six months, according to the NHS. Nine weeks after the transplant, Emma Palmer feels 'totally normal'. Maya will always have a chronic condition but feels much better after the transplant, marking a significant improvement in her health.
Emma Palmer hopes her donation will inspire others to consider kidney donation, highlighting the impact of such acts on recipients and the broader community.
And if you cannot donate, I am requesting you with a mother’s whole heart — please help us reach the person who can save her.
I keep telling her I wish there was a bigger phrase than thank you.
When we got the call (saying there was a donor match) it just didn’t feel real.
Honestly, I was on my last bit of will power.
I will always have a chronic condition but with this treatment, I do feel better, I feel amazing, I feel the best I’ve felt since I initially got ill.
You can imagine my reaction. I was incredulous. I could not believe that of all the people we tested, it was actually the journalist who I first made contact with that proved to be a good match and had the operation.
As a parent there are simply no words of gratitude that are enough for somebody who altruistically comes forward to save the life of your child, a child they don’t even know.
Why wouldn’t I? I’ve had 50 good years and am blessed with a wonderful and healthy family. To think that a 15-year-old girl – as she was at the time – was having to go through so much and giving up hope just really got to me.
One of the reasons I wanted to do this was for Maria (Maya's mother) because as a mother myself I could only imagine what she was going through. Life on dialysis is horrendous and so I wanted to help.
I can say thank you to Emma but it will never be enough. We will always be in touch with Emma but particularly every 6 January.
Not only has Emma given me a life but she has made me want to live it.