The gift of life

Brenda, a Canadian mother living with chronic kidney disease, was facing a long and uncertain wait for a transplant, until 2013 when her daughter Kielah stepped forward with an extraordinary act of love. Kielah volunteered to donate a kidney, but when tests revealed she wasn’t a match, she refused to give up. Instead, she entered Canada’s paired exchange programme, donating her kidney to a stranger so that Brenda could receive a compatible one in return. In a poignant letter for Dear Daughter, Brenda reflects on the “ticking clock” of living with a transplant and her daily gratitude for the daughter whose selflessness saved her life. Now a mother herself, Kielah tells Namulanta Kombo about watching her mum’s decline and why, despite the risks, she didn’t hesitate to give up a kidney to save her mum. To find out more about Dear Daughter, to take part, or read our privacy notice, please go to Or you can contact the team via WhatsApp on +44 800 030 4404.

You can listen to The gift of life online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

The gift of life is an episode from Dear Daughter by BBC.

This episode is 19:29 long.

This episode was published on Feb 27, 2026.

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