Ray was inspired to donate a kidney after receiving a note in an eBay parcel (Picture: Ray Duffy /SWNS.COM)

A man donated a kidney to a stranger after receiving a heartfelt note in an eBay parcel.

53-year-old Ray Duffy went under the knife two years ago at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh to become a living kidney donor.

The idea first came to him in 2013, when his partner bought a top on eBay – which was accompanied by a note explaining the heartbreaking predicament faced by the seller’s family.

The woman who posted the package had wrapped it in paper illustrated with hand-drawn cartoons, and a note explaining how her husband needed a kidney transplant and had lost his job so the family would sell things online to generate cash.




Dad-of-two Ray was so moved that he kept the note – but had no idea how he could help.

Two years later he was stuck in traffic and heard a radio programme discussing living kidney donors, and was inspired to go under the knife to save somebody’s life – even though he had never met them.

Ray said: ‘Back in 2013, my partner bought a top on eBay and it arrived wrapped up in brown wrapping paper which the sender had hand-drawn cartoons of animals all over.

Ray received the note in an eBay parcel (Picture: Ray Duffy /SWNS.COM)

‘She had also written a thank you note explaining that her husband was on the transplant waiting list, had lost his job and that now and then they would sell things they didn’t need on eBay so they could buy their kids a treat.

‘She said that she drew the pictures to put a smile on people’s faces as they had helped her put a smile on her children’s faces.

‘I’ll never forget it.

‘It was just a really nice gesture from a complete stranger and I couldn’t help feeling a bit queasy – here we are in the 21st century and there are families struggling while waiting for transplants.

‘I felt so helpless.’

The operations manager from Gordon, Scottish Borders, recalled how he thought at the time ‘If I could, I would give her husband my kidney’ – but did not know it was possible or legal.

But while listening to the radio in the car two years later, he had a ‘lightbulb moment’ when altruistic organ donation was discussed – where a living person anonymously donates an organ to a stranger.

Ray in hospital when he donated his kidney (Picture: Ray Duffy /SWNS.COM)

He said: ‘I went to change the music on the radio and I pressed the wrong button and accidentally tuned into an interview of a man speaking about his experience donating a kidney.

‘That was the lightbulb moment, I just knew I was going to do it.

‘I registered in November and started the assessment process straight away.’

After the year-long process of mental, physical and medical assessments to ensure he was in a fit state to undergo the operation, in March 2017 Ray checked in to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh to undergo the surgery.

He said: ‘It was a very humbling experience to be able to do something like that for someone else.



‘I know it’s not for everyone and it’s a huge decision but for me it just felt right.’

On Monday he will climb the Old Man of Hoy sea stack in Orkney, to raise awareness of organ donation.

Give a Kidney chairman Chris Jones said: ‘Mr Duffy’s climbing challenge is brilliant because it shows that donors come back to 100% health after donating.

‘In Scotland, there are over 400 people who need a transplant. With efforts like Mr Duffy’s, we hope to get more people donating kidneys.’

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