Bootleg booze blinded me but mum saved my life with kidney donation
Hannah Powell was left blind after drinking dodgy vodka in Greece, but the girl's mum has given her daughter a lifeline by donating one of her kidneys
LAST year Hannah Powell told The Sun how dodgy booze had ravaged her kidneys and blinded her on a holiday to Greece.
The medical receptionist has been kept alive with dialysis treatment since the night in Zante 18 months ago when she unwittingly drank bootleg vodka laced with methanol.
But now the courageous 22-year-old has been given a lifeline after her mum Christine went under the knife to donate a kidney.
When Hannah and Christine, 52, first embraced after their risky operations last November, they broke down in tears of joy.
Now, recovering at home together, they share their brave story.
Ecstatic Hannah from North Ormesby, Teesside, says: “Since that holiday my life has been unimaginably tough.
“Not only have I been left blind but I’ve been reliant on machines to keep my kidneys going.
“We have always been close but I would never have imagined that one day mum would save my life.
“Now we have the ultimate bond. My mum is my hero.”
School cook Christine says: “It was a decision made in an instant when I discovered I was a match.
How to spot it
REMEMBER four Ps.
PLACE: Buy from a reputable shop, off licence or bar.
PRICE: If it is really cheap, it could be fake.
PACKAGING: Shoddy, misspelled labels, unsealed caps.
PRODUCT: Avoid if there is sediment or a bad smell – particularly of nail varnish.
“I just wish I could give her my eyes, too.”
The operation means Hannah can return to full-time work at the GPs’ surgery and no longer relies on dialysis treatment, which kept her tied to the house.
Hannah says: “I was breathless, my skin turned yellow. Being on dialysis three days a week was mental torture, especially when you can’t see.
“I had to live with a tube sticking out of my chest so I wasn’t even allowed a bath in case water got in it.”
The symptoms
IT can be several hours before major symptoms of methanol poisoning appear.
They include:
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Dizziness
- Vertigo
- Feeling breathless
- Blurred vision
- Headaches
- Blindness
Hannah was on holiday in Zante in July 2016 when she drank vodka and orange cocktails laced with methanol, a chemical used to make anti-freeze for cars.
She says: “I started to feel really awful about lunchtime the day after our night out.
“I felt sick then desperately tired and fell asleep for 24 hours.
“I didn’t know it but my kidneys were closing down and when I finally woke up I was blind.
“My two friends both felt a bit groggy, but they suffered nothing like me.
“Some people just get affected more if they drink methanol. That’s pot luck. But we were all drinking the same vodka and orange cocktails in the same bars.
“The Greek doctors that treated me said that methanol is heavier than vodka and sinks to the bottom of the bottle, so my drink may have been the last dregs.”
The chemical is deliberately added to strengthen or stretch illegal alcoholic drinks and mafia crime gangs, possibly based in Albania, are believed to be behind the deadly trade of toxic vodka sold in bars across the Mediterranean.
Christine says: “I hope whoever put methanol in my daughter’s drink to make a few quid realises the dreadful consequences. I hope one day they are brought to justice.” Hannah fell into depression on her return from Zante as she faced life on dialysis and robbed of her sight.
Hannah, who is in a long-term relationship with Royal Engineers soldier Carl Matthews, 21, says: “I’ve lost 90 per cent of my vision.
“From the corner of one eye I can see the odd black shadow against a grey background if someone walks toward me.
“I can’t put into words how dreadful it is not seeing things like my family’s faces.
“Before the kidney transplant I was only 30 per cent fit, and tired all the time too. It was very tough.”
Her dad Derek, 57, had been set to donate one of his kidneys last February but on a final scan, doctors found he had a kidney stone and the operation was called off.
Hannah, who lives with her mum, dad and sister Emily, 16, says: “Dad was devastated.
“The hospital checks showed my mum was the second best match for me and thankfully she agreed to do it.”
Christine says: “Since Hannah’s blindness I’ve watched her struggle to live without eyes. That’s been heartbreaking.
“The one gift I could give her was one of my kidneys.”
Last November mother and daughter walked into the Freeman Hospital, Newcastle, holding hands and were only parted when they were ushered into separate operating theatres.
Doctors warned that the four-hour procedure had only a 30 per cent chance of success.
It was two days before tearful Christine had the strength to get to her daughter’s bedside.
Hannah recalls: “It was a wonderful moment. I remember I heard her voice, it was a little shaky. She just gave me a hug and kiss.”
Three months on, and still a little sore, Hannah says: “Already, I’m 95 per cent fit and feel fantastic. I’m buzzing about going back to work. I use OrCam, a gadget that hooks on to your glasses and can read anything I point my finger at and translates it into a speaker in my ear.
“I use it every day at work and they have also installed a computer screen with extra-large print so I can still book patients in for appointments.”
Hannah is determined not to let the tragic events of the holiday stop her from leading as normal a life as possible.
She says: “With help from my family and friends I still do most of the stuff I used to, just a bit slower.
MOST READ IN REAL LIFE
“Carl has been wonderful. He’s looked after me every step of the way. I still go out with my pals and go to pubs, but because of all the drugs I’ve had to take since going blind I can’t drink alcohol.
“The one fabulous thing that has come out of this is that we have grown even closer as a family. We won’t let what that monster in Zante did to me break us.
“And I’m excited about starting volunteering for the Royal National Institute for the Blind too.
“Whatever I do in life it will be lovely to know that a little bit of my mum is inside me making me feel well again. It’s a bond between us that will last as long as we do.”