Ray's story

Ray fell ill during a flight home from South Africa, after travelling to watch an international cricket match.

Following the journey back to Cardiff, he noticed that he had become jaundiced and wasn’t able to rest.

Ray was diagnosed with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC); a disease which can cause liver damage. Doctors were unable to say what had caused him to get the condition, but he was told he was likely to need a liver transplant in the future.

A fitness fanatic

Following his diagnosis Ray tried to stay as fit as he could and discovered a passion for cycling. His love of exercise would only grow, and he decided to take on Ironman events and triathlons, becoming faster and fitter.

Sadly, in October 2020, the condition started to affect his health. He became more fatigued and noticed that he was jaundiced again. Ray recalls:

“I was seen by a consultant at the Royal Free to get a liver transplant assessment in December 2020 and by the end of the week I was told I was on the transplant list.”

A second chance

Ray had a successful liver transplant in March 2021. He remembers:

“Up until that time I had never really thought about the donor and the donor’s family. Once I had the operation, I found every time I wanted to talk about the donor I broke down. It was like I had lost a good friend.”

Ray saw a dramatic change in his skin colour with the jaundice fading within days and his medications are now being reduced. He is now back to work full time.