Kidney Transplant Couple Serve
Temple Mission
Sam and Valerie Sheepwash, members of the
Weston-super-Mare Ward, Bristol Stake, made newspaper headlines in 1997 after undergoing a
wife-to-husband kidney transplant. Sam, then age 55, had already spent five years waiting
for a donated kidney along with 5,000 other hopeful candidates. He had also suffered a
stroke, a brain haemorrhage, and three heart attacks. Doctors gave him about three years
to live.
After reading about another couple's successful
kidney transplant at Southmead Hospital, Bristol, one of the few hospitals where the
operation is being pioneered, Valerie, also 55, decided to look into giving her husband
one of her kidneys. "I had nursed him through many illnesses. He had deteriorated to
the point that he did not have much longer to live, and this gave me an opportunity to do
something about it."
After much prayer, they approached their consultant
with the proposal. Specialists warned that there was a 20 percent chance that Sam would
die on the operating table, but they decided to go ahead. "In some ways," says
Sam, "Valerie's operation was more serious than mine. She had to have a rib removed
to get the kidney out safely. She gave me not only a gift of life but also a gift of
love." The operation was a success, and Sam and Valerie have recovered well.
Despite their challenges, the couple have continued
to serve in Church callings: Valerie as Relief Society homemaking leader and Sam as
secretary in the elders quorum. In addition, they have continued to cultivate a garden and
share their surplus with members and friends.
Now, much to their joy, they have been called to
serve a mission in the London Temple. "As we approached our first anniversary of the
transplant, we were happy to receive such a calling. We did not dream of this 12 months
ago," says Valerie. "Because Sam still experiences some heart problems and
breathing difficulties, our service in the temple will be limited to two weeks on and
eight weeks off. We are grateful for the surgery that has made even this much
possible."
Sam and Valerie have 5 children and 12
grandchildren. - Marie Jones, Weston-super-Mare Ward, Bristol Stake
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