Altruistic donation: a kidney for a stranger
Petra and Cees both donated a kidney to someone they don't know. They really wanted to do something good for a seriously ill patient.
19 maart 2026
'Altruistic donation... I didn't know that word,' Petra says. 'It means you do something without wanting anything in return. Cees and I ran our own business for years and we always worked hard. When we stopped doing that, I wanted to do something good for others. In the newspaper I read an interview with doctor Marcel Levi, who used to be director of the AMC, the current Amsterdam UMC. He had given away a kidney without knowing to whom. I thought it was wonderful that you don't have to know the recipient. Then I thought: if he does this, why shouldn't I? That gave me the final push.'
A whole family happy
Seven years ago, Petra went to her general practitioner with her question. After that she ended up in the AMC. 'I was called up quickly for the operation. Afterwards the doctor said: you've made a whole family happy. Because when one person is sick, the whole family has a hard time. I was relieved that everything went well. Otherwise it would have been a waste of my kidney.' Petra was 70 when she donated. 'That age wasn't a problem. I've never been sick. So you can also help someone at an older age.'
A lot of confidence
Two years later, Cees also went to the general practitioner. He wanted to do the same thing. 'The GP hesitated, because I was 79. But I was in top health. Our GP was just retiring. The new GP immediately thought it was a good idea. After that everything went fast. We have a lot of confidence in medical care and dared to go through with it. Ultimately I also altruistically donated a kidney. Both Petra and I haven't had any trouble, except for the night after the operation. We were also allowed to go home quickly again.'
Living with one kidney
They are very satisfied with the care. Petra: 'We were guided very well. And everything turned out better than expected. I already had a scar in my abdomen and they used that for the operation. I thought that was special. Nice that they thought of that.' Cees adds: 'Because of my age I am checked every year. Everything is always fine. You can live just fine with one kidney. I've even had cancer, but the treatment could just go ahead.'
Safe
Not many people know that Petra and Cees have donated a kidney. Cees: 'It's difficult to talk about it, because we don't want to show off. But we do think it's important that more people think about this. Every year nearly 200 kidney patients die due to a shortage of donors. We have friends who also wanted to donate, but they were rejected for medical reasons. That's a shame, but it does show how safe the process is: it only happens if the donor is truly healthy. And it's nice that it's possible. That used to be quite different.' Petra nods. 'In my native village I had an uncle who died of kidney disease at age 48. Way too young. Donation didn't exist back then. I still think about that often.'
