MARION SAUVEBOIS meets Claire Naylor, who went from believing she had a cold, to thinking her young life was over

THE odds were slim to none and yet Claire Naylor became one in a million when her body inexplicably turned on itself, attacking her from inside.

Within days her kidneys had shut down and she was put on dialysis.

To this day doctors are at a loss to pinpoint the cause of her illness, Goodpasture’s syndrome, and are unable to reassure her that she is now over the worst of it. Seven years ago, Claire started suffering from what appeared like a common cold.

And yet she felt instinctively something much more serious had seized hold of her as she became plagued with chest pains.

After a visit to the GP, she was sent home with medication and a reasonably benign diagnosis: she had a chest infection.

Her condition swiftly deteriorated and feverish, nauseous and unable to so much as stand, she was rushed to hospital.

Despite running a battery of tests, doctors were none the wiser as to the cause of her alarming state.

As they searched for answers, they grew oblivious to the fact that Claire was gaining weight at startling speed – no less than three stone in a week.

“They didn’t have a clue what was wrong with me and that was frightening,” said the 36-year-old administrator from Old Town.

“All I remember is being scared, not knowing what was happening to me. I was having blood tests, I was on a drip. They just didn’t know what they were looking for.”

At last, after six days spent confined to her hospital bed, Claire managed to get up.

Her body was so swollen she was unable to stand on her feet. She gave all the signs of fluid retention, a symptom of kidney failure.

She was transferred from the Great Western Hospital to Churchill Hospital in Oxford where she was diagnosed with Goodpasture’s syndrome, a rare auto-immune disease which attacks and destroys healthy body tissue and can affect both the kidneys and the lungs.

“It was by far, the worst time of my life. It was a one-on-one consultation and I remember asking ‘When will my kidneys kick back in?’ and the doctor said ‘They won’t’.

“It was a shock. It really hit me then. My kidneys would never recover.

“I suppose I was lucky that it didn’t affect my lungs.

“It could have killed me if they hadn’t found it so quickly.

“They’ve only known how to treat it for the past 20 years but they still don’t know what causes it.

“I remember breaking down a couple nights in hospital. What the doctors were telling me meant nothing. I just wanted to go home.”

She remained in Oxford for three weeks. During that time she was put on aggressive medication usually aimed at cancer patients, which caused her to lose her hair.

She underwent three operations to insert wires into her veins to allow for dialysis to remove toxins from her blood stream, which her kidneys were now unable to do.

She was discharged but had to return to hospital for dialysis three times a week.

“My life was lonely. It was revolving around dialysis. It made it difficult to do anything else, or go away.

“It changed me. I had to put my life on hold for five months. It knocked the confidence from me.

“I became chubbier, I struggled with tiredness. I felt like I had got old before my time.”

Then, what she had dreaded happened: in May, her immune system started attacking her kidneys once more.

“It was a shock. When the consultant said my body had started attacking itself again, I just broke down. I was making progress. I thought ‘I can’t face this any more’.”

And yet, her kidneys kicked back in after a short time.

In fact, her condition improved to such an extent that doctors suggested stopping dialysis for a week. They warned her it was only temporary and that she would need to start again shortly.

Since that day seven years ago, she has not needed dialysis again.

She remains at risk and will in all likelihood require a kidney transplant, as their function has been reduced to 35 per cent.

But now she has pledged not to dwell on the past but look forward.

“It was a miracle when they kicked back in. Goodpasture’s syndrome is part of my life now. I never really let myself think about it too much. I have no choice, it happened. There is no point dwelling on it now.

“But thinking about getting a transplant is scary. I have got the kidneys of a 60-year-old so there is a high chance I will need a transplant at some point in my life.”

In 2010, Claire embarked on a fundraising campaign for Kidney Research UK.

So far she has secured £7,000 for the charity by taking part in an abseil, walk and treks. She is hoping to collect more towards vital medical research at the Purple Plunge event on Sunday.

The challenge will see her skydive for the very first time –a terrifying yet exciting prospect.

“I took a vow that I would do all I could to raise money for Kidney Research UK.

“A skydive is something that has always been on my bucket list, but the fear factor has always got in the way.

“If it hadn’t been for research, doctors would not have been able to treat me.

“There is a lot of focus on cancer but kidneys diseases affect thousands of people and they can be overlooked.

“If combining one of my ambitions with raising money for such a worthy cause helps to promote the amazing work done by Kidney Research UK then I will just have to be ready.”

To make a donation to Kidney Research UK or find out more about the charity go to www.kidneyresearchuk.org/purpleplunge.

  • Goodpasture’s syndrome is a rare autoimmune disease in which antibodies attack the basement membrane in lungs and kidneys, leading to bleeding from the lungs and to kidney failure.
  •  Its cause is unknown but it is thought it maybe provoked by some sort of underlying damage to the blood vessels which take blood from and to the lungs, coming from exposure to organic solvents, tobacco smoke, certain gene mutations, infection from influenza, cocaine inhalation or sepsis.
  •  To diagnose Goodpasture’s syndrome, doctors use a blood test, but a kidney or lung biopsy may be necessary.
  •  The condition can progress rapidly over days to weeks.
  •  The disease is rare, affecting about one person in a million every year.
  •  It can be treated if it’s caught early enough and the damage to the kidney is minimal.
  •  For more information, visit kidneyresearchuk.org