EVERY day teenager Izzy Sewell is waiting for the call that would change her life forever – a new kidney.

The 19-year-old is among the 76 people in Dorset waiting for a transplant and has now spoken out to help raise awareness of the shortage of donors to mark Organ Donation Week.

“Every day is a waiting game. Having a kidney transplant would mean everything to me – my freedom, to not have that constant anxiety, just a weight lifted off my shoulders and to be able to enjoy my life without worry.”

Izzy suffered from septicaemia as a baby and she was diagnosed with the life-threatening condition polycystic kidney disease, an incurable and progressive condition that causes multiple cysts to develop.

Symptoms, which include high blood pressure, abdominal pain and blood in the urine, do not normally begin until adulthood when the disease is already advanced.

At this point dialysis – a treatment that involves machines that replicate many of the kidney’s functions – or a kidney transplant are needed or the patient will die.

Izzy, from Poole, began dialysis nearly two years ago but she has suffered complications from home dialysis including pleurisy and peritonitis and has since endured painful operations due to her small veins.

Today Isabel’s kidneys are functioning at just eight per cent of what they should be. And rather than enjoy the same freedom as most teenagers, Isabel is on dialysis at Poole Hospital three evenings every week without fail while she waits for a kidney transplant.

She said: “I have a rare blood and tissue type so nobody in my family is a match. I’ve been on the waiting list for eight months now and my life has to revolve around hospital. It feels my life is on hold. I really don't want to be on dialysis forever.

“I can get very tired and feel drained.

“It has been difficult to come to terms with because I can’t do what most people my age do and that gets me down. People might look at me and think there is nothing wrong but I struggle a lot at times and I have been really sick and in a lot of pain. I’m lucky I have a really lovely family.”

Izzy, who is now starting a course at Poole College and dreams of going to university, hopes by sharing her story she will encourage families to discuss organ donation.

“It’s such a taboo subject but organ donation can make such a huge difference to someone’s life without making a difference to yours.

“An organ transplant is the most incredible thing. Someone can give somebody life and that’s just amazing. I hope people reading this will have the conversation with their families so they are aware of their wishes.”

To join the NHS Organ Donor Register go to organdonation.nhs.uk or call 0300 123 23 23 for more information.